February-March grouper closure no longer in effect in Florida state waters

The February 1^st through March 31st closure that usually affects several species of grouper in Gulf state waters will not happen this year.

The closure would have applied to 7 species of grouper including black grouper and red grouper, but the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation voted last year that the closure is no longer needed.

The closure was adopted years ago as an effort to rebuild gag grouper populations during their spawning season.

Today, gag grouper is managed separately from other Gulf grouper species with its own harvest season, which is open July 1 through Dec. 3 in most state and all federal waters.

In the waters off Franklin, Wakulla, Taylor and Jefferson counties the gag grouper season is from April 1st through June 30th.

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