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New rules approved for saltwater reef
fish
April 12, 2007
Contact: Lee Schlesinger, (850) 487-0554
Regulations are changing for several
recreational and commercial marine reef fish species in waters
offshore of Florida. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission (FWC) approved a series of rule amendments Thursday
that will bring Florida regulations in line with recent rule
changes for federal waters adjacent to state waters.
Florida state waters extend 9 nautical miles
offshore in the Gulf of Mexico and 3 miles offshore in the
Atlantic Ocean. So-called "federal” waters, also known as the
Exclusive Economic Zone or EEZ, extend farther offshore beyond
state waters. The FWC has regulatory jurisdiction in Florida
waters, and federal agencies and councils manage fishing in
federal waters.
The new reef fish rules approved by the FWC help
make Florida’s rules consistent with recent federal regulatory
changes, and as a result, minimize public confusion and aid rule
enforcement. They take effect July 1.
In the Atlantic, the rules allow recreational
fishers to keep one golden tilefish and one snowy grouper within
the five-fish daily aggregate grouper bag limit. The daily
recreational bag limit for Atlantic red porgy will jump from one
fish to three fish per person and the recreational minimum size
limit for Atlantic vermilion snapper will rise from 11 to 12
inches total length. The rules also set commercial trip limits
in the Atlantic that are the same as trip limits in federal
waters.
Rules for Atlantic black sea bass include
increasing the recreational minimum size limit from 10 inches
total length to 11 inches total length in 2007, and then to 12
inches total length in 2008, and establishing a June 1 – May 31
harvest season. The rules also require a minimum 2-inch mesh for
the back panel of black sea bass traps in the Atlantic, and
require removal of black sea bass traps in the Atlantic when the
commercial quota is reached.
New Gulf reef fish rules decrease the commercial
and recreational minimum size limit for vermilion snapper from
11 to 10 inches total length, eliminate the April 22 through May
31 closed season for commercial harvest of vermilion snapper,
establish a zero bag limit for gag, red and black grouper for
captains and crew on for-hire vessels, and remove the
requirement for Class I and Class II commercial red snapper
licenses.
Other rules approved by the FWC designate golden
tilefish as a "restricted species” in Florida, change the
minimum size limit of vermillion snapper imported into Florida
from 11 to 10 inches total length, and prohibit commercial
fishermen from harvesting or possessing the recreational bag
limit of reef fish species on commercial trips. |
