New rules proposed for reef fish

[BigEarl]

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has proposed making the following rules changes to reef fish regulations in order to make state and federal rules consistent:

· Make commercial quotas and trip limits in Atlantic state waters the same as in federal waters for golden tilefish, snowy grouper, red porgy and black sea bass.

· Establish a daily recreational bag limit of one fish per person for snowy grouper and golden tilefish within the five grouper aggregate daily bag limit in the Atlantic.

· Increase the recreational size limit for vermilion snapper from 11 to 12 inches total length in the Atlantic.

· Adopt a June 1 to May 31 recreational and commercial season for black sea bass in the Atlantic.

· Increase the recreational size limit for black sea bass from 10 to 12 inches and decrease daily recreational bag limits from 20 to 15 fish per person in the Atlantic.

· Require the use of at least 2-inch mesh for the back panel of black sea bass traps, require removal of traps once the commercial quota is met, and reduce the recreational allocation of black sea bass in the Atlantic.

· Increase the daily recreational bag limit for red porgy from one to three fish per person in the Atlantic.

· Prohibit the captain and crew on for-hire vessels from retaining recreational bag limits of all species of grouper in Gulf waters.

· Decrease the recreational size limit for vermilion snapper from 11 to 10 inches total length in Gulf waters.

· Eliminate the April 22 to May 31 commercial closed season for vermilion snapper in Gulf waters.

· Eliminate the requirement that commercial red snapper fishers must possess either a Class 1 or Class 2 red snapper license to conform with new federal provisions that establish an Individual Fishing Quota program for red snapper in Gulf waters.

· Prohibit the possession of all recreational reef fish species on commercial trips.