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Florida Commercial Fishing Season Advisories
- Closed shrimp-harvesting area in Escambia County reopens
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) will reopen state waters offshore of Escambia County to the harvest of shrimp at 12:01 a.m. on August 17, 2010.
The FWC had temporarily closed this area to the harvest of fish, shrimp and crabs on June 14 as a precautionary measure due to possible effects of oil from the BP Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The FWC reopened the area to the harvest of fish on July 31. - Commercial Harvest of Spiny Lobster
The season for the commercial harvest of spiny lobster in Florida waters will open Friday, August 6, 2010. The season will close as usual on March 31, 2011. - Greater Amberjack Quota Adjustment
June 28, 2010
Effective immediately, NOAA Fisheries Service has adjusted the commercial quota for greater amberjack for 2010 to account for quota overruns in 2009. The commercial quota will be 373,072 pounds.
The intended effect of the quota adjustment is to maintain the rebuilding plan target for the overfished greater amberjack resource, and meet the regulatory requirements established by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council in 2008. - Commercial Fishery for Black Sea Bass to Re-open in the South Atlantic
NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service has announced the commercial fishery for black sea bass will open on June 1, 2010. The fishery will remain open until May 31, 2011, or until the quota of 309,000 pounds is met. - Gulf of Mexico longline reef fish measures become effective May 26, 2010
NOAA Fisheries Service published a final rule to implement Amendment 31 to the Fishery Management Plan for Reef Fish Resources in the Gulf of Mexico.
The following measures apply to the bottom longline component of the reef fish fishery in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. These measures become effective May 26, 2010:
1) Prohibit the use of bottom longline gear shoreward of a line approximating the 35-fathom depth contour from June through August;
2) require an endorsement to harvest reef fish using bottom longline gear in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Only federally-permitted vessels with demonstrated average annual landings of 40,000 pounds of reef fish taken by fish traps or longlines during 1999-2007 qualify for an endorsement; and
3) restrict the number of hooks that may be possessed onboard each reef fish bottom longline vessel operating in the eastern Gulf of Mexico to 1,000 hooks total, only 750 of which may be fished or rigged for fishing at any given time.
Click on the link below for more information:
http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/bulletins/pdfs/2010/FB10-026%20FR%20A31%20Eastern%20GOM.pdf - Florida Stone Crab Claw Season Ends May 16, 2010
The season for harvest, possession and sale of stone crab claws in Florida closes May 16, 2010. This closure occurs each year to help protect and sustain Florida's valuable stone crab resource. Stone crab season will reopen October 15, 2010. Stone crab claws may be possessed and sold during the closed season only if they have been placed in inventory prior to May 16, 2010 by a licensed wholesale or retail dealer. - Harvesting of Shallow-Water Groupers
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has announced that the commercial harvest of shallow-water groupers (including gag, black and red grouper, scamp, red hind, rock hind, coney, graysby, yellowfin grouper, yellowmouth grouper and tiger grouper) will reopen May 1, 2010, in all Atlantic Ocean and Monroe County waters. The harvest of these groupers has been closed since January 1 to address overfishing of grouper in the Atlantic. - Harvesting of Reef Fish
Beginning June 1, 2008 commercial fishermen will be required to use non-stainless steel circle hooks, d-hooking and venting devices when using natural baits to harvest reef fish in Gulf of Mexico federal waters. Reef fish species include all snappers, groupers, sea bass, amberjacks, triggerfish, hogfish, red porgy and tilefish. For more information, please call the Gulf Council at 888-833-1844. - South Atlantic Snapper-Grouper Fishery
NOAA Fisheries Service published a final rule for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region. The final rule becomes effective on July 29, 2009. This rule establishes a January-April prohibition on commercial harvest of shallow water grouper species including gag, black grouper, red grouper, scamp, rock hind, red hind, coney, graysby, yellowfin grouper, yellowmouth grouper, and tiger grouper. Modifies the vermilion snapper commercial quota and establishes a gag commercial quota. Implements a requirement for the commercial sector to use dehooking tools when necessary. For persons aboard charter vessels/headboats permitted for the South Atlantic snapper-grouper fishery, the provisions of the closures for gag and vermilion snapper will apply regardless of whether the fish are harvested in state or federal waters. Captain and crew on for-hire vessels would be prohibited from retaining vermilion snapper or any species in the grouper aggregate. Summary table of new snapper-grouper regulations for the South Atlantic.
Measures New Regulations Shallow water grouper closed season January-April (all shallow-water groupers*) Gag quota 352,940 lbs gutted weight Vermilion snapper quota 315,523 lbs gutted weight (January-June); 302,523 lbs gutted weight (July-December) * Shallow water grouper include: Gag, black grouper, red grouper, scamp, red hind, rock hind, coney, graysby, yellowfin grouper, yellowmouth grouper, and tiger grouper
