Spiny Lobster
Regulations
Season: July 24-25, 2024 (last consecutive Wednesday and Thursday of July each year, for residents and non-residents) and July 14, 2024 (for Florida residents and only in state waters, see Executive Order 24-13 for more information)
Daily Bag Limit: 6 per person for Monroe County and Biscayne National Park; 12 per person for rest of Florida
Possession limit on the water: equal to the daily bag limit
Possession limit off the water: equal to the daily bag limit on July 14 and 24, 2024, and double the daily bag limit on July 25, 2024.
Possession limits are enforced on and off the water.
Possession of spiny lobster in federal waters on the July 14, 2024, harvest date is prohibited.
Minimum Size Limit: Carapace length must be larger than 3 inches, measured in the water. Possession and use of a measuring device required at all times. Find out how to measure a spiny lobster.
Night Diving: Prohibited in Monroe County (ONLY during sport season). Diving is defined as swimming at or below the surface of the water.
Prohibited Areas: Harvest of lobster is prohibited in John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park during the sport season. At all times, harvest of lobster is prohibited in Everglades National Park, Dry Tortugas National Park, no-take areas in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, in the Biscayne Bay/Card Sound Lobster Sanctuary, and in the five Coral Reef Protection Areas in Biscayne National Park.
Fishing Charters: For the July 14, 2024, special harvest day, charter captains who are Florida residents can be hired. All charter customers on the special harvest day must also be Florida residents and carry proof of residency. Charter customers do not have to be Florida residents for the regular sport season dates (July 24-25, 2024)
Season: Aug. 6-March 31
Daily Bag Limit: 6 per person
Possession limit on the water: Equal to the daily bag limit
Minimum Size Limit: Carapace length must be larger than 3 inches, measured in the water. Possession and use of a measuring device required at all times. Find out how to measure a spiny lobster.
Prohibited Areas: Harvest of lobster is prohibited in John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park during the sport season. At all times, harvest of lobster is prohibited in Everglades National Park, Dry Tortugas National Park, no-take areas in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, in the Biscayne Bay/Card Sound Lobster Sanctuary, and in the five Coral Reef Protection Areas in Biscayne National Park.
Florida Keys/Monroe County Information
- Regulations for Recreational Harvest and Lobster Information for Monroe County
- Monroe County Spearfishing
- Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
Call 305-852-7717 or visit http://floridakeys.noaa.gov for information about no take areas in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Please call the FWC Marathon office at 305-289-2320.
Other Prohibitions
- Unless exempt, a recreational saltwater fishing license and a lobster permit are required to harvest spiny lobster
- Lobster must be landed in whole condition. Separating the tail from the body is prohibited in state waters.
- The harvest or possession of eggbearing spiny lobster, or any other eggbearing species of lobster belonging to the families Palinuridae (spiny lobsters), Scyllaridae (slipper lobsters) or Synaxidae (furry lobsters) is prohibited
- No person shall harvest or attempt to harvest spiny lobster using any device which will or could puncture, penetrate or crush the exoskeleton (shell) or the flesh of the lobster
- Recreational trapping prohibited
- Regardless of what species you are fishing for, bag limits are only for properly licensed individuals and those people exempt from license requirements who are actively harvesting. People harvesting may not exceed their individual bag limit and take someone else's bag limit. That is, people (including children) who are not actively harvesting or are not properly licensed (if a license is required) may NOT be counted for purposes of bag limits.