ALABAMA REGULATIONS & LIMITS:
http://www.outdooralabama.com/fishing/s ... ns/limits/
Creel and Size Limits
Recreational Size and Creel Limits for Alabama State Waters
(Includes inshore waters and Gulf Waters out to 3 miles offshore)
Updated September 29, 2008
SPECIES
SIZE LIMIT
DAILY CREEL LIMIT
Spotted Seatrout*
14" min. TL
10 per person
Red Drum** 16" min. - 26" max 3 per person - 1 oversized fish allowed in the 3 fish creel limit
Cobia (Ling) 33" min. FL 2 per person
King Mackerel 24" min. FL 2 per person
Spanish Mackerel no size limit 15 per person
Florida Pompano 12" min. TL 3 per person
Gag Grouper*** 22" min TL ***Grouper Aggregate
Red Grouper*** 20" min TL ***Only 1 Red grouper is allowed in the 5 fish Grouper Aggregate
Black Grouper*** 22" min TL ***Grouper Aggregate
Yellowfin Grouper*** 20" min TL ***Grouper Aggregate
Scamp*** 16" min TL ***Grouper Aggregate
Greater Amberjack 30" min FL 1 per person
Striped Bass**** 16" min TL 2 per person
Gray Triggerfish 14" min FL Reef fish aggregate*****
Flounder 12" min TL 10 per person
Tripletail (Blackfish) 16" min TL 3 per person
Lesser Amberjack 14" - 22" FL No Creel Limit
Banded Rudderfish 14" - 22" FL No Creel Limit
Yellowfin Tuna 27" min CFL No Creel Limit
Bigeye Tuna 27" min CFL No Creel Limit
* Spotted Seatrout (speckled trout) - no undersized fish allowed.
** Red Drum (redfish) - 1 fish may exceed maximum size.
*** Mixed species grouper aggregate creel limit (including Gag): 5 per person
**** Only two Striped Bass are allowed within MRD Jurisdiction.
***** There is a twenty (20) fish aggregate creel limit for reef fish species for which there is no other bag limit. (for example, grunts, porgies, gray triggerfish, vermilion snapper (only 10 allowed vermilion snapper allowed in the 20-fish aggregate), Lane snapper, etc.
NOAA Fisheries Service announces the recreational fishing season for red snapper in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The recreational fishery will open June 1, 2009, and will close 12:01 a.m. local time August 15, 2009. The fishery will remain closed until June 1, 2010, the beginning of the 2010 federal recreational fishing season.
Click here for the NOAA Fisheries Bulletin detailing the 2009 red snapper season.
Red Snapper 16" TL 2 per person in state and federal waters
Vermillon Snapper (beeliner) 10" TL 10 per person in Reef fish aggregate*****
Lane 8" TL Reef Fish aggregate*****
Gray (mangrove, black) 12" TL 10 per person
Tarpon
60" TL
$50.00 tag required to possess, kill or harvest each tarpon.
Sharks
Atlantic Sharpnose none 2 per person per day
All Other Shark Species 54" min FL 1 per person per day
Alabama has instituted new regulations pertaining to the harvest of shark species for commercial and recreational purposes. Click here for info provided to aid anglers in the identification of common species of sharks which may occur in Alabama's coastal waters.
Prohibited Species: Goliath grouper (jewfish) (Click Here to learn more about Goliath grouper and to report sightings in Alabama waters), Nassau grouper, Atlantic angel shark, bigeye thresher, dusky, longfin mako, sand tiger, basking, whale, white, nurse, smalltail, smalltooth sawfish, largetooth sawfish, spotted eagle ray, Atlantic manta.