FWC Commission votes to increase commercial fishing opportunities

    Some of Florida’s commercial fishermen will soon have more fishing opportunities, thanks to changes made by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) at its Wednesday, Feb. 8, Commission meeting. Management changes will be made to the king mackerel harvest in southern Florida and the oyster harvest in Apalachicola Bay.

Commercial king mackerel fishers harvesting from waters off Monroe County will be able to land and sell their harvest in Collier County from April 1 to July 1. The Commission took this action because commercial fisherman can’t land their catch in Collier County because the season usually closes before April.

When the waters off Collier County are closed, commercial fishermen harvesting from Monroe County waters experience economic hardships because they must travel farther distances to sell their fish. The change will allow these fishermen to travel a shorter distance to sell their catch.

The Commissioners also approved a measure that will allow the harvest of oysters for seven days a week in Apalachicola Bay. Previously, harvest was not allowed on Fridays and Saturdays from June 1 through Aug. 31 and on Saturdays and Sundays from Sept. 1 through Nov. 15. The measure will go into effect June 1. This increased harvesting opportunity comes in response to management changes in 2010 by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services that require oyster harvesters to deliver their oysters by a specified time of day during the warmer months of the year. The seven-day work week will allow Apalachicola Bay oyster harvesters the ability to make up for time lost in harvesting because of the new earlier delivery times.

To learn more about these management changes, visit MyFWC.com/Commission and click on “Commission Meetings” and then “Agenda.”

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