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FWC proposes stone crab rule amendments
April 10, 2008
Contact: Lee Schlesinger, 850-487-0554
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission (FWC) proposed two changes to its stone crab
management rules during a public meeting in Tallahassee on
Thursday. A final public hearing on these rule proposals
will take place during the June 11-12 FWC meeting in Dania
Beach.
The Stone Crab Advisory Board was created by an
FWC rule in 2003 to advise the Commission about the operation of
the stone crab trap limitation program and any problems in the
fishery. The FWC is proposing to continue the board until
July 1, 2011, to give it time to resolve on-going issues in the
fishery, including how to reduce the excessive number of trap
certificates in the commercial stone crab fishery and remove and
dispose of derelict stone crab traps.
The FWC is also proposing to allow the use of
16-gauge, or thinner, staples to secure stone crab trap tie-down
lids or the panel on wire stone crab traps. This is
consistent with current rules for blue crab traps.
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