New FWC Press Release Info
Apologize for providing this info late, but some great info here on Grouper, American Red Snapper, Triggerfish, Amberjack, blue crabs, and aquarium species. Please read up and keep yourself up-to-date on the rules:
FWC approves Gulf gag and red grouper rule changes
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on Thursday approved rule amendments for gag grouper in Gulf of Mexico state waters that are consistent with interim regulations in Gulf federal waters. In addition, the FWC approved a rule amendment to allow Florida recreational anglers to harvest more red grouper in Gulf state waters.
A recent stock assessment indicated that Gulf gag grouper are undergoing overfishing (excessive harvesting pressure), and harvest levels must be reduced. Interim federal regulations to address this situation will be implemented in Gulf waters beyond nine nautical miles offshore of Florida in January. Today’s FWC action will make Florida gag grouper rules in state waters consistent with the interim federal regulations.
The new rules establish a two-fish-per-person recreational daily bag limit for gag grouper within the five-grouper aggregate limit in Gulf state waters, and prohibit the recreational harvest of gag grouper from Gulf state waters from Feb. 1 through March 31.
Another new FWC rule increases the recreational daily bag limit for red grouper in Gulf state waters from one fish per person to two. The FWC is taking this action now because a recent stock assessment concluded that the Gulf red grouper stock has recovered enough to allow an increase in harvest levels, and it is expected that the recreational red grouper bag limit in Gulf federal waters will be increased to two fish sometime in 2009.
“The improvement in red grouper abundance in the Gulf gives us a chance to ‘give back’ some fish to anglers and helps reduce the overall impacts of the new gag grouper restrictions,” said Rodney Barreto, chairman of the FWC.
These rules will take effect on Jan. 1. More information on grouper management is available online at MyFWC.com/marine/grouper/index.htm.
FWC proposes Gulf red snapper sport season change
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) proposed a draft rule Thursday to change the recreational harvest season for red snapper in Gulf of Mexico state waters. A final public hearing on this proposed action will take place during the FWC’s February meeting in Destin.
The FWC proposal would change the recreational red snapper harvest season in Gulf state waters from April 15 through Oct. 31 to June 1 through Sept. 30. This proposed action would be consistent with the red snapper closed season in Gulf federal waters.
Red snapper are considered to be overfished and undergoing overfishing in the Gulf. Shortening the fishing season in state waters will reduce the harvest of Gulf red snapper and help rebuild the fishery’s population.
The FWC also believes that adopting the same closed red snapper recreational season that exists in Gulf federal waters could reduce the need for further restrictions in the future.
Size limits changed for Gulf amberjack and triggerfish
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission approved new rules Thursday to increase the minimum size limits for greater amberjack and gray triggerfish in Gulf of Mexico state waters. This action is consistent with new regulations in Gulf federal waters, which extend beyond nine nautical miles offshore of Florida.
Federal fisheries managers recently implemented a management plan for greater amberjack and gray triggerfish in Gulf federal waters. Greater amberjack in the Gulf are considered to be overfished (low stock abundance) and undergoing overfishing (excessive harvesting pressure). Gray triggerfish in the Gulf are considered to be undergoing overfishing.
The new rules increase the recreational minimum size limit for greater amberjack from 28 to 30 inches fork length and increase the commercial and recreational minimum size limit for gray triggerfish from 12 to 14 inches fork length in Gulf state waters.
These rules take effect on Jan. 1.
Blue crab closed seasons proposed to aid cleanups
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) proposed a draft rule Thursday that would establish six regional closed seasons to the harvest of blue crabs with traps. These closures would extend for a period of up to 10 days each to help efforts to identify and retrieve lost and abandoned blue crab traps from Florida waters.
Lost and abandoned blue crab traps have been cited as a problem in the blue crab fishery because they sometimes interfere with other fishing activities and can continue to trap crabs and fish when they are not maintained. They are also unsightly in the marine environment, can damage sensitive habitats and pose navigational hazards to boaters.
It is illegal to tamper with properly licensed and maintained blue crab traps, and lost and abandoned traps cannot easily be distinguished from legal traps, so they often remain in the water indefinitely. Regional closures of up to 10 days would allow authorized groups to collect lost and abandoned blue crab traps that remain in the water after fishermen remove their working traps during the closed periods.
After consulting with its Blue Crab Advisory Board and receiving input from the public, the FWC is proposing annual blue crab harvest closures in all waters of the St. Johns River system from Jan. 16-25, all other coastal waters from the Georgia/Florida state line south through Volusia County from Aug. 20-29, all waters of Brevard County through Palm Beach County from Aug. 10-19, all waters of Broward County through Pasco County from July 10-19, all waters of Hernando County through Wakulla County from July 20-29, and all waters of Franklin County to the Florida/Alabama state line from Jan. 5-14.
Except for the St. Johns River system closure, all of the proposed blue crab trap harvest closures would extend from the shoreline out to three nautical miles and include all inland waters in the regions. An existing Sept. 20 - Oct. 4 closed season in the Gulf of Mexico from three to nine miles offshore would be retained.
The proposed closures would apply only to standard blue crab traps. The harvest of blue crabs by other gear, such as dip nets and fold-up traps, would still be permitted during the closures. The closures would also apply to recreational harvesters who use standard blue crab traps unless the traps are attached to private property.
A final public hearing on these rule proposals will take place in February in Destin.
New rules proposed for harvest of aquarium species
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) on Thursday proposed a series of draft rule amendments for the marine life (aquarium species) fishery. These proposed rules are intended to enhance the FWC’s existing marine life regulations to help maintain the health of Florida’s important coral reef ecosystem.
Members of the commercial marine life industry have for years been proactive in coming to the Commission with ideas and recommendations to protect the fishery and promote the conservation of marine life resources.
After considering recommendations made by its Marine Life Workgroup, composed of marine life fishery stakeholders, and receiving comments from the public, the FWC is proposing a series of draft rule amendments that would add new fish and invertebrate species to marine life regulations, establish or change size and bag limits and gear specifications for several marine life species, and make other administrative and technical marine life rule changes.
Florida’s marine life fishery involves the taking of live fish, invertebrates and plants mostly for aquariums. The fishery occurs primarily within coral reefs, which are one of the most biologically diverse and valuable ecosystems on earth.
The FWC considers it essential to conserve Florida’s coral reefs by reducing the adverse impacts fishing and other human interactions can cause to these ecosystems, and is continuing its long collaboration with the marine life fishing industry to implement management regulations to preserve this fishery.
The FWC is proposing to add several species to the marine life rule, which means that commercial harvesters of these species would need a marine life endorsement to collect them, and these species also would be included in the marine life recreational bag limit. The species proposed to be added include porcupine fish, spotted burrfish, black brotula, key brotula, yellow stingray, blackbar soldierfish, red mithrax crab, emerald crab, red ridged clinging crab, the star snail lithopoma tectum, all hermit crabs (except land hermits), and nassarius snails.
The proposed rules would also lower the minimum size limit for Cuban hogfish from 3 to 2 inches total length, raise the maximum size limit for butterflyfish from 4 to 5 inches total length, establish maximum size limits of 9 inches total length for tangs and 12 inches total length for parrotfish, lower the daily commercial bag limit for angelfish (gray, French, blue and queen) from 75 per person and 150 per vessel to 50 per person and 100 per vessel, change the daily commercial bag limit for butterflyfish from 75 per vessel to 50 per person or 100 per vessel (if two endorsement-holders are aboard), and establish a commercial daily vessel limit of 400 for dwarf seahorses.
The rules also propose lowering the commercial daily bag limit for condylactis anemones from 400 to 200 per vessel, and establishing commercial daily bag limits of 400 per vessel for emerald crab, one gallon per person and two gallons per vessel for lithopoma tectum (added to the current star snail bag limit), and one quart per person and two quarts per vessel for scarlet reef hermits.
Other proposed rules recommended by FWC staff and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary include specifying that ricordea (a soft coral) and all corallimorph polyps must be taken as a single polyp only and establishing a commercial daily bag limit for all corallimorph polyps of 100 polyps per person or 200 per vessel (if two endorsement-holders are aboard). They also recommend establishing a commercial daily bag limit for zoanthid polyps of one gallon of polyps per person or two gallons per vessel (if two endorsement-holders are aboard), and requiring that the only gear allowed for collecting zoanthid and all corallimorph polyps should be a flexible blade no wider than 2 inches, such as a paint scraper, putty knife or razor blade.
In addition, the proposed rules would allow the harvest of ornamental sponges north of Egmont Key in the Gulf of Mexico to be taken with a 1-inch amount of substrate beyond the holdfast and a 1-inch thick piece of substrate below the holdfast of the sponge. Taking ornamental sponges with substrate would not be allowed in waters south of Egmont Key.
Finally, the proposed rules would allow recreational harvesters to take no more than five of any one marine life species daily within the 20 organism aggregate bag limit and possess no more than a two-day bag limit (up to 40 marine life organisms), allow live rock harvest from an aquaculture lease site to count towards the requalification of the marine life transferable dive endorsement, allow quinaldine to be used only by marine life dive and non-transferable dive endorsement holders, and apply other technical rule changes.
The FWC will hold a final public hearing on the proposed marine life rule amendments in February in Destin. The Commission gave flexibility to staff to consider input it received at its meeting on Thursday and incorporate additional rule amendments as appropriate prior to the final public hearing.
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