FWC Offers Training on New Marine Fisheries Trip Ticket Reporting Requirements

Good afternoon,

You are receiving this email because you have a Florida Wholesale Dealer license and/or Saltwater Products License and may be affected by the upcoming changes to the Marine Fisheries Trip Ticket Program’s reporting requirements. The rule changes were approved by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) at their September 2024 meeting to improve the trip ticket reporting program and provide more accurate and timely data. The changes go into effect July 1, 2025, and will include the following requirements:

• All trip tickets must be submitted electronically through VESL.
  • VESL is a free software application developed by the same company that created FL Trip Ticket.
  • FL Trip Ticket software will soon be retired by the software developer and will no longer be available for use.
  • Paper trip tickets will no longer be accepted.
• Weekly reporting period (Sunday – Saturday) with a submission deadline of 3 days after the reporting period ends.
• Wholesale dealers must report for every period, even if they did not purchase/receive products from a commercial harvester.
• Commercial harvesters will need to report any products they commercially harvested if:
  • They retain them for personal use.
  • They donate the product.
  • They sell to a wholesale dealer located in a state other than Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, or Maine.
• Commercial harvesters who meet the conditions outlined above can report their commercially harvested product through:
  • VESL if they are a licensed Florida Wholesale Dealer.
  • An alternative trip ticket form that will be accessible on the FWC Commercial Wholesale and Retail Dealers webpage.

To assist wholesale dealers and harvesters with the transition, FWC staff are providing training opportunities on using VESL to submit trip tickets. Virtual trainings will be offered from 1–3 pm ET on the following days:

• First Tuesday of the month from January 2025 – May 2025
• Every Tuesday in June 2025

You can attend these virtual trainings by going to the FWC Commercial Wholesale and Retail Dealers webpage. This webpage will include information on the dates/times of the offered trainings, and a link to join the virtual training will be available at the bottom of the page under “VESL Training” on the day of the training. If you cannot make one of these trainings, pre-recorded videos on how to navigate VESL are also available for viewing on this webpage.

If you have a group or organization that would like in-person training on how to use VESL, you can request this option by emailing TripTicketTraining@MyFWC.com. In-person training is only available from January 2025 through June 2025 and must be requested three weeks in advance. Training opportunities are limited based on staff availability.

If you have questions about the new reporting requirements or training opportunities, please email TripTicketTraining@MyFWC.com.

For questions on submitting trip tickets, email the Trip Ticket Office at tripticketsupport@myfwc.com or call 727-896-8626.

Sincerely,

FWC Division of Marine Fisheries Management & the FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute

• VESL Training Flyer.pdf