Vanessa Fletcher with a flounder. Photo by George Goodson.
Commission Meeting – April
Information: The FWC Commission will listen to public testimony on and discuss several marine fisheries management items at the April 25-26meeting in Fort Lauderdale. Please visit MyFWC.com and click on “FWC Commission Meetings” and the link under “Next Meeting” to see the agenda.
Potential regulation changes (final decisions on these topics may be made at this meeting):
- Gulf red snapper: Proposal to require for-hire operations who fish for reef fish in Gulf state waters and do not have a federal reef fish permit to report their intention to harvest certain species of reef fish. This presentation will also include an update on recent federal discussions about red snapper, Florida’s proposed fishery management pilot program, and the 2018 recreational harvest season.
- Tripletail and sheepshead: Proposal to extend FWC’s current and proposed rules for both species into federal waters, to increase the minimum size limit for tripletail, to reduce the daily recreational bag limit for sheepshead, and to create a vessel limit of 50 sheepshead for recreational harvesters during the peak spawning months of March and April.
- Gulf Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ): Proposed federal consistency action that would allow the FWC to enforce federal commercial IFQ regulations in state waters. (This item is currently slated to be on the Consent agenda and may not include a public comment period at the Commission meeting.)
- West Bay oyster harvesting restrictions: Proposal to prohibit harvest and possession of oysters within the West Bay Estuarine Habitat Restoration Project boundaries in Bay County. (This item is currently slated to be on the Consent agenda and may not include a public comment period at the Commission meeting.)
Discussions:
- Sharks: Review and discussion on various shark-related topics including the shore-based shark fishery.
- Goliath grouper: Review and discussion of biology, stock assessment results, and stakeholder views. Staff will seek Commission direction on management priorities, which may include limited harvest.
- Federal fishery management updates
Links for more information:
Spiny Lobster
Season closed April 1
Information: Recreational and commercial spiny lobster seasons closed April 1 and will reopen Aug. 6. The two-day recreational sport season is the last consecutive Wednesday and Thursday of July, which is July 25 and 26 this year.
Links for more information:
Gag Grouper – 4-county region
Season opened April 1
Information: The recreational harvest season for gag grouper in Gulf state waters off Franklin, Wakulla, Jefferson and Taylor counties opened April 1.
This region will remain open through June 30 and includes all waters of Apalachicola Bay and Indian Pass, including those in Gulf County, and all waters of the Steinhatchee River, including those in Dixie County. The season off these counties also opens to recreational gag grouper harvest Sept. 1 through Dec. 31. State waters in the Gulf are from shore to 9 nautical miles.
The minimum size limit is 24 inches total length and the bag limit is two per person in Gulf state waters.
Link for more information:
Permit
Season closed April 1
Information: Permit season inside the south Florida Special Permit Zone closed April 1 through July 31 to protect aggregations of spawning fish. The month of April was recently added to the spawning closure.
Links for more information:
FWC needs your feedback
Information: FWC is collecting feedback on several fisheries issues including bay scallops, shrimp, and trap fisheries.
Link for more information:
Saltwater Angler Recognition Programs
Catch a Florida Memory today
Information: These three programs encourage ethical angling while earning rewards for your efforts.
- Saltwater Fish Life List: A list of 71 different species. Can you catch them all?
- Saltwater Reel Big Fish: Recognition for extraordinarily-sized catches.
- Saltwater Grand Slams: Earn rewards for catching three different specified species in a 24-hour period.
Link for more information:
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