FWC proposes Phase III changes to Marine Special Activity License program

At its February meeting, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) proposed changes to improve the Marine Special Activity License (SAL) program.

Some of the proposed changes include:

• Updates to regulations for marine prohibited species and Education/Exhibition SALs
• Updates to FWC’s Marine Prohibited Species Policy to further limit the collection of listed species for exhibition
• Updates to non-conforming gear SALs
• Updates to the framework for the Florida Marine Science Educators Association (FMSEA) Certification
• Updates to regulations related to the tagging of marine organisms

The proposed rules incorporate an updated policy on the collection of prohibited species for education and exhibition that increases restrictions on the collection of species listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act, such as giant manta rays.

These changes mark the beginning of the third phase of changes to update the rules governing the Marine SAL program. The Commission approved Phase II changes at the November 2025 meeting, and Phase I changes were approved at the December 2024 meeting. Staff will continue to gather public feedback on Phase III changes and will return to the May Commission meeting for a final public hearing.

We encourage all interested parties who would like to provide feedback on additional changes to the Marine SAL program rules to submit comments or recommendations for Phase III through MyFWC.com/SaltwaterComments or email them to Marine@MyFWC.com.

For the full Commission Meeting February 4-5 agenda and links to background reports, go to MyFWC.com/Commission and select “Commission Meetings.”

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