September 13th, 2007
At it's meeting in St Petersburg today, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), proposed changing state regulations for red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico. The new regulations will closely match the temporary federal rules, put in place earlier this year, aimed at reducing overfishing and rebuilding red snapper stocks in the Gulf. New federal Gulf red snapper regulations are expected to be implemented and made permanent for the 2008 fishing season. These are the proposed new state regulations being considered by the FWC. A final public hearing on the proposals will be held in Panama City at the FWC's February meeting.
* Shorten recreational fishing season in the Gulf to 107, 122, or 154 days, depending on the new federal rules.
* Reduce recreational daily bag limit from 4 fish to 2 fish.
* Establish a zero daily bag limit for captains and crews of for-hire vessels in the Gulf.
* Reduce commercial bag limit and trip limit in the Gulf from 4 fish to 2 fish per day.
* Reduce commercial minimum size limit in the Gulf from 15" to 13".
* Allow only non-stainless steel circle hooks to be used with natural bait when harvesting reef fish.
* Require that a venting tool and a de-hooking device be onboard vessels harvesting reef fish.
