FWC approves changes to blueline tilefish recreational harvest in Atlantic state waters

At its October meeting, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) approved new regulations for the recreational harvest of blueline tilefish in Atlantic state waters. These new regulations are consistent with those in Atlantic federal waters and could help prevent both recreational quota overages and overfishing.

FWC staff gathered input on these changes from stakeholders who participate in the fishery, many of whom were in support of the proposed changes.

Approved changes include:

• Establishing a three blueline tilefish recreational bag limit within the three-fish aggregate bag limit for grouper and tilefish in Atlantic state waters.
• Setting the Atlantic state waters recreational season for harvest to be May 1 through Aug. 31.

The rules will take effect Jan. 1, 2021, and can be found at MyFWC.com/Marine by clicking on “Recreational Regulations” and “Tilefish,” which is under the “Reef Fish” tab.

For the full Oct. 22-23 agenda, including links to background reports, go to MyFWC.com/About and click on “The Commission” and “Commission Meetings.”