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New rules proposed for saltwater reef
fish
February 8, 2007
CONTACT: Lee Schlesinger (850) 487-0554
Regulations are slated to change for several
recreational and commercial marine reef fish species found in
Florida’s offshore waters. The Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission (FWC) Thursday proposed a series of rule
amendments 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 FWC is proposing the following rule
amendments to be consistent with recent federal rule changes,
and as a result, to minimize public confusion and aid in
enforcement:
-
apply the same commercial quotas and/or trip
limits in Atlantic state waters that have been established
in Atlantic federal waters for golden tilefish, snowy
grouper, red porgy and black sea bass;
-
establish a daily recreational bag limit of
one fish per person for snowy grouper and for golden
tilefish within the five-grouper aggregate daily bag limit
in Atlantic waters;
-
increase the recreational size limit for
vermilion snapper from 11 inches total length to 12 inches
total length in Atlantic waters;
-
adopt a June 1 - May 31 recreational and
commercial fishing season for black sea bass in Atlantic
waters;
-
increase the recreational size limit for
black sea bass from 10 inches total length to 12 inches
total length and decrease the daily recreational bag limit
from 20 fish per person to 15 fish per person in Atlantic
waters;
-
require the use of at least 2-inch mesh for
the back panel of black sea bass traps, require removal of
traps from the water once the commercial quota is met, and
reduce the recreational allocation of black sea bass in
Atlantic waters;
-
increase the daily recreational bag limit
for red porgy from one fish per person to three fish per
person in Atlantic waters;
-
prohibit the captain and crew on for-hire
vessels from retaining recreational bag limits of all
species of grouper in Gulf waters;
-
decrease the recreational size limit for
vermilion snapper from 11 inches total length to 10 inches
total length in Gulf waters;
-
eliminate the Apr. 22 - May 31 commercial
closed season for vermilion snapper in Gulf waters; and
-
eliminate the requirement that commercial
red snapper fishers must possess either a Class 1 or Class 2
red snapper license to conform with new federal provisions
that establish an Individual Fishing Quota program for red
snapper in Gulf waters.
Another proposed rule amendment would prohibit
the possession of all recreational reef fish species on
commercial trips. A final public hearing on all of these rule
proposals will take place during the FWC’s April 11-12 meeting
in Tallahassee. |
