 David Garrett is on his way to being Florida's Lionfish King. He's collected more than 600 lionfish since the Lionfish Challenge began in May.
Submit your photos by emailing them to Saltwater@MyFWC.com.
Commission Meeting – June
Action: Marine Fisheries Management items discussed
at meeting near Apalachicola
Discussions:
- South Atlantic federal fishery management updates
Draft rules:
- Red drum – Draft rule approved to adopt the one-fish bag limit in the northwest management zone as a long-term management action. Final public hearing scheduled for September Commission meeting.
- Mutton snapper – Draft rules approved to increase the minimum size limits, reduce the recreational bag limits and modify the commercial trip limits. Final public hearing scheduled for September Commission meeting. Staff also directed to host workshops in August.
- Barracuda – Draft rule approved to create a slot limit in south Florida. Final public hearing scheduled for November Commission meeting.
Regulatory changes:
- Bay scallops in St. Joseph Bay – Recreational season and bag limit changes approved. See below for more information.
- Yellowtail snapper – Commercial gear requirements modified in the Gulf of Mexco.
- Bringing fish back from The Bahamas – Measure approved allowing harvesters to bring back recreationally caught wahoo, dolphinfish and reef fish from the Bahamas as fillets instead of in whole condition.
- Boca Grande Pass Boundary – Measure approved clarifying a recent regulatory boundary shift due to a buoy being relocated as a long-term management action.
Links for more information:
Agenda
[MyFWC.com]
News
Releases [MyFWC.com]
Bay Scallops - St. Joseph Bay/Gulf County
Action: Season dates, bag limits changed
Information: The FWC made changes to the 2016 bay scallop
season in waters off Gulf County. All waters west of St. Vincent Island through
the west bank of the Mexico Beach Canal in Bay County will be open Aug. 22
through Sept. 5 (Labor Day), and will close to harvest Sept. 6. The daily bag
limit in this area will be reduced to 40 scallops per person or 200 per vessel,
whichever is less.
Regulations have not changed for all open areas from St.
Vincent Island through the Pasco-Hernando county line. The season will remain
open June 25 through Sept. 24 and the daily bag limit remains 2 gallons of
whole bay scallops in the shell or one pint of meat per person with a maximum
of 10 gallons of whole bay scallops in the shell or ½ gallon bay scallop meat
per vessel.
Links for more information:
Bay
Scallops [MyFWC.com]
Gag - 4-county region
Action: Recreational harvest in 4-county region closes July 1
Information: The recreational gag grouper season in state waters off
Franklin, Wakulla, Taylor and Jefferson counties closes July 1, with the last
day of harvest being June 30.
All
other state and all federal Gulf of Mexico waters opened to recreational
harvest June 1 and will remain open through Dec. 31, closing Jan. 1, 2017.
Monroe
County follows Atlantic regulations and is open from May 1-Dec. 31.
The
size limit for gag in Gulf state and federal waters is 24-inches total length
and the daily bag limit is two fish per person within the four fish grouper aggregate
bag limit.
Links for more information:
Grouper
[MyFWC.com]
Red Snapper - Gulf
Action: State recreational season continues through July 10
Information: Recreational season in state waters will remain open daily
through July 10. The season will reopen Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in
September and October, and on Labor Day.
The
recreational season in Gulf federal waters was June 1-11 for private anglers
and is June 1 through July 16 for federally permitted for-hire vessels such as
charter boats and head boats.
Links for more information:
Snapper
[MyFWC.com]
Spiny Lobster Sport Season
Action: July 27-28 recreational season
Information: Spiny lobster will be open to
recreational harvest in state waters July 27 and 28 for the sport season and
will open for regular recreational and commercial harvest Aug. 6.
During the 2-day sport season, the
recreational daily bag and on-the-water possession limit is 6 per person in
Monroe County and Biscayne National Park, and is 12 per person in all other
areas in Florida. Off the water, the possession limit is equal to the daily
bag limit on the first day and is double the daily bag limit on the second
day.
Want to take an extra spiny lobster per day
during the sport season? Participate in the Lionfish Challenge. Remove 50 or
more lionfish from Florida waters before the sport season to qualify. See
below for more information.
Spiny lobster must be measured in the water
and must have a carapace larger than 3 inches. The carapace is measured
beginning at the forward edge between the rostral horns, excluding any soft
tissue, and proceeding along the middle to the rear edge of the carapace.
Night diving for spiny lobster is prohibited
during the sport season in state waters off Monroe County.
Harvest is prohibited in John Pennekamp
Coral Reef State Park during the sport season and in Everglades National
Park, Dry Tortugas National Park, Biscayne Bay, the lobster sanctuary in Card
Sound and the no-take areas of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
during both the 2-day sport season and the regular season.
Links for more information:
Spiny Lobster
[MyFWC.com]
How
to measure a spiny lobster [MyFWC.com]
Lionfish Challenge
Action: Remove 50 lionfish, get rewarded
Information: Remove 50 or more lionfish
between Lionfish Removal and Awareness Day (May 14, 2016) and the end of
September to qualify for the FWC’s Lionfish Challenge. The person who “checks
in” the most lionfish will be crowned Florida’s Lionfish King or Queen. Visit
MyFWC.com/Lionfish and click on “Lionfish Challenge” to learn more.
Links for more information:
Lionfish
Challenge [MyFWC.com]
Lionfish Panhandle Pilot Program
Action: Program in 7-county region focuses on lionfish removal
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 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 harvests 500 or
more lionfish during this one-year period will be given the opportunity to have
an artificial reef named after them.
Links for more information:
Panhandle
Pilot Program [MyFWC.com]
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