Michael Sipos and his hogfish catch.
Commission Meeting – St. Petersburg
Marine Fisheries items to be discussed Nov. 17
Information: The FWC Commission will discuss several marine fisheries management items Nov. 17 at the meeting in St. Petersburg.
Discussions:
- Federal fishery management update
- Lionfish update and Lionfish King award presentation
Potential regulatory changes:
- Barracuda: Final public hearing to create a slot limit of 15-36 inches fork length (FL) in Collier, Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Martin counties. Includes an allowance for the harvest of one barracuda over 36 inches per vessel.
- Hogfish: Set the state management boundary for Gulf and Atlantic hogfish regulations at 25 degrees 09 minutes North Latitude (due west of Cape Sable) in the Gulf of Mexico, increase the Gulf recreational and commercial minimum size limit to 14 inches FL and the Atlantic recreational and commercial minimum size limit to 16 inches FL, set the minimum importation size limit to 14 inches FL, set the recreational bag limit to 1 fish in the Atlantic, and set the Atlantic recreational harvest season to be May 1-Oct. 31.
- Spiny lobster bully nets: Draft rules to create an open-access commercial bully net endorsement, require commercial bully net vessels be marked with the harvester’s bully net endorsement number, prohibit the simultaneous possession of a bully net and any underwater breathing apparatus aboard vessels being used to commercially harvest lobster or being used to transport commercial quantities of lobster, and prohibit trap pullers on commercial bully net vessels.
- Gear regulations rule cleanup: Updates to confusing or outdated local and statewide gear regulations.
Links for more information:
Saltwater License-Free Fishing Day Nov. 26
Information: Florida residents and visitors can experience Florida’s unique saltwater fishing opportunities without being required to have a recreational saltwater fishing license on Nov. 26.
All bag limits, seasons and size restrictions apply.
There are eight license-free fishing days each year including four freshwater and four saltwater.
An annual license can be purchased at 1-888-FISH-Florida or at GoOutdoorsFlorida.com. All fishing license fees are used to support Florida fish and wildlife conservation and help attain additional funding for Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration projects.
Links for more information:
Red Snapper – Gulf State Season
Days added to recreational season in November
Information: The recreational red snapper season in Gulf state waters will remain open Nov. 5-6, 11-12 (Veteran’s Day holiday), and 25-27 (Thanksgiving weekend and Nov. 26 is also a saltwater license-free fishing day).
These additional days were added to the season to offset the effects of Hurricane Hermine.
The daily bag limit is two fish per person within the 10-snapper aggregate bag limit. The minimum size limit is 16 inches total length. The season is not open in Gulf federal waters.
Links for more information:
New Saltwater Angler Recognition Programs
Catch a Florida Memory today
Information: We all know fishing has its own rewards, but turn them into something tangible by participating in one of the FWC’s new Saltwater Angler Recognition Programs.
There are three programs you can participate in, two of which are brand new:
- Saltwater Fish Life List: A list of 71 different species. Can you catch them all?
- Saltwater Reel Big Fish: Recognition for extraordinary-sized catches.
- Saltwater Grand Slams: Earn rewards for catching 3 different specified species in a 24-hour period.
Links for more information:
Lionfish Panhandle Pilot Program
Get rewarded for your lionfish removals in 7-county region
Information: For every 100 lionfish harvested from Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay, Gulf and Franklin counties, between May 2016 and May 2017, the harvester will be eligible to receive a tag allowing them to take either an extra legal-sized red grouper or cobia over the bag limit from state waters. The state will issue up to 100 red grouper and 30 cobia tags in total to successful participants in the pilot program. In addition, the first 10 persons or groups that harvest 500 or more lionfish during this one-year period will be given the opportunity to name an artificial reef.
Links for more information:
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