6
Basic Commercial Fishing Regulations
COMMERCIAL SALTWATER FISHING GEAR LIMITATIONS
Net Limitations
Food fish caught in any net and not kept due to
bag, size, or other reason must be immediately
returned to the water alive.
The use of gill and entangling nets is prohibited
in all state waters (nine nautical miles from
the Gulf coast and three nautical miles from
the Atlantic coast). Any net (other than a
hand thrown cast net) with a stretched mesh
size larger than two inches is considered an
entangling net. Any net (other than a hand
thrown cast net or handheld landing or dip net)
constructed wholly or partially of monofilament
or multistrand monofilament material is also
considered an entangling net.
The use of a cast net with a stretched length
(the distance from the horn to the lead line with
the net pulled tight) of more than 14 feet and
fishing with more than two cast nets per vessel
are also prohibited in state waters.
Use of more than four seines is prohibited
in state waters. This limitation applies to
primary vessels and secondary vessels aboard
or connected to the primary vessel. No more
than two lawful nets may be fished per vessel
in nearshore and inshore waters (all waters
landward of a line three nautical miles from
the Gulf coast and one nautical mile from the
Atlantic coast). A person not on a vessel may
fish no more than one such net.
The use of any net with a mesh area exceeding
500 square feet is prohibited in nearshore
and inshore waters. Check rule number 68B4.0081(3)(e) for how to measure a net. Tying,
connecting, or fastening two or more nets
together in any way so as to exceed 500 square
feet of mesh area is prohibited.
No net may have more meshes attached per foot
of corkline or leadline than 14 divided by the bar
measurement of the mesh in the net. The use of
trawls with a net or bag containing more than
500 square feet of mesh area is prohibited in
nearshore and inshore waters.
Any vessel in state waters with gill or entangling
nets aboard or more than four seines aboard and
vessels in nearshore or inshore waters with any
net with a mesh area larger than 500 square
feet aboard (the trawl door or frame may not be
deployed) must proceed as directly, continuously
and expeditiously as possible from the place
where the vessel is regularly moored to waters
where use of such nets is lawful and back or to
the licensed wholesale dealer where the catch
is to be sold. This requirement does not apply
to vessels containing or otherwise transporting
dry nets that are rolled, folded, or otherwise
properly stowed in “lock boxes” so as to make
their immediate use impracticable.
In all waters of the state, the possession of gill
or entangling nets or seines with a mesh area
larger than 500 square feet is prohibited on any
airboat, on any vessel with a forward-mounted
primary power source that is less than 25 feet
in length, and on any vessel less than 22 feet in
length.
Violations of these net gear regulations are
considered major violations. Civil penalties and
license suspensions may be assessed in addition
to court assessed criminal penalties
Gill nets used in the federal gill net fishery must
be marked at each end with the SPL number
of the vessel operator or vessel from which it is
deployed. Seines must be tended and marked
with the SPL number at each end.
Beach or haul seines, with the exception of nets
used in the specified area of the the Southwest
region, may not be soaked for more than one
hour from the time the mesh first enters the
water until the mesh is first retrieved. In the
Southwest region (Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte,
Lee, and Collier counties, except inside waters)
nets may be fished from one hour after sunset to
one hour before sunrise. Such nets may not be
soaked for more than 12 hours from the time the
first mesh is set until the first mesh is retrieved.
In this area a seine net with one unattached
wing is allowed; however, one end of the main
net must be anchored on the shore, and a vessel
with a white light visible from 360° and at least
one mile must be anchored at the seaward end of
the nets.
Purse seines or similar devices may not be used
to take food fish other than tuna and menhaden.
Lawfully used seines may have a pocket bunt on
the middle of the seine with a mesh size less than
two inches.
Trap Limitations/Marking Requirements
The use of any trap is prohibited in designated
areas off of Citrus, Hernando, and Pasco counties
during the following closed seasons.
Zone II - closed season Oct. 5 - May 20
Zone IV - closed season Oct. 5 - Dec. 1 &
April 2 - May 20
Zone V - closed season Oct. 5 - Nov. 30 & Mar.
16 - May 20
The boundaries for these zones are defined by
longitude and latitude in rule 68B-38(2), F.A.C.
Unless otherwise prohibited, finfish may be
harvested in a lawful black sea bass or pinfish
trap, or as bycatch in a lawful crab or crawfish
trap (licensing requirements apply to bycatch).
A lawful black sea bass trap may not exceed
two feet in any dimension and must have a
biodegradable panel and a throat not more than
five inches high by two inches wide. Black sea
bass traps are prohibited south of Latitude 27 °
N (a line extending east and west through the
Sarasota area on the west coast and Martin
County on the east coast). A lawful pinfish trap
may not exceed two feet in any dimension and
must have a throat or entrance not more than
3 inches high and ¾ inches wide. Possession
of fish traps not otherwise allowed by rule is
prohibited in state.
Each black sea bass trap must have the trap
owner’s saltwater products license number
permanently attached to the trap. Each buoy
attached to such trap shall have the letter “B”
and the owner’s saltwater products license
number affixed to it in legible figures at least 1.5
inches high.
Each trap and buoy used to harvest spiny
lobster, blue crab and stone crab shall have the
commercial harvester’s current endorsement
number permanently affixed in legible figures.
Each trap shall also have firmly affixed a current
trap tag issued annually by the Commission.
Traps with tags that are not firmly affixed by
nails, staples, or otherwise securely fastened as
may be provided by the Commission, shall be
considered untagged for enforcement purposes.
On each buoy, the affixed endorsement number
shall be at least 2 inches high. The buoy
color and license or trap number shall also be
permanently and conspicuously displayed on any
vessel used by a commercial harvester for setting
traps and buoys, so as to be readily identifiable
from the air and water, in the following manner:
A buoy or time release buoy shall be attached
to each trap or at each end of a weighted trap
trotline. The buoy shall be constructed of
styrofoam, cork, molded polyvinyl chloride, or
molded polystyrene, be of sufficient strength and
buoyancy to float, and be of such color, hue, and
brilliancy as to be easily distinguished, seen, and
located. Buoys shall be either spherical in shape
with a diameter no smaller than 6 inches or some
other shape so long as it is no shorter than 10
inches in the longest dimension and the width at
some point exceeds 5 inches. No more than 5 feet
of any buoy line attached to a buoy used to mark
a stone crab trap or attached to a trotline shall
float on the surface of the water.
From the Air – The buoy design approved
by the Commission shall be displayed and be
permanently affixed to the uppermost structural
portion of the vessel and displayed horizontally
with the painted design up. The display shall
exhibit the harvester’s approved buoy design,
unobstructed, on a circle 20 inches in diameter,
outlined in a contrasting color, together with
the endorsement number permanently affixed
beneath the circle in numerals no smaller than
10 inches in height.
From the Water – The buoy design approved
by the Commission shall be displayed and
be permanently affixed vertically to both
the starboard and port sides of the vessel
near amidship. The display shall exhibit the
harvester’s approved buoy design, unobstructed,
on a circle 8 inches in diameter, outlined in a
contrasting color, together with the endorsement
number permanently affixed beneath the circle
in numerals no smaller than 4 inches in height.
21
Basic Commercial Fishing Regulations
COMMERCIAL SALTWATER FISHING GEAR LIMITATIONS
Net Limitations
Food fish caught in any net and not kept due to
bag, size, or other reason must be immediately
returned to the water alive.
The use of gill and entangling nets is prohibited
in all state waters (nine nautical miles from
the Gulf coast and three nautical miles from
the Atlantic coast). Any net (other than a
hand thrown cast net) with a stretched mesh
size larger than two inches is considered an
entangling net. Any net (other than a hand
thrown cast net or handheld landing or dip net)
constructed wholly or partially of monofilament
or multistrand monofilament material is also
considered an entangling net.
The use of a cast net with a stretched length
(the distance from the horn to the lead line with
the net pulled tight) of more than 14 feet and
fishing with more than two cast nets per vessel
are also prohibited in state waters.
Use of more than four seines is prohibited
in state waters. This limitation applies to
primary vessels and secondary vessels aboard
or connected to the primary vessel. No more
than two lawful nets may be fished per vessel
in nearshore and inshore waters (all waters
landward of a line three nautical miles from
the Gulf coast and one nautical mile from the
Atlantic coast). A person not on a vessel may
fish no more than one such net.
The use of any net with a mesh area exceeding
500 square feet is prohibited in nearshore
and inshore waters. Check rule number 68B4.0081(3)(e) for how to measure a net. Tying,
connecting, or fastening two or more nets
together in any way so as to exceed 500 square
feet of mesh area is prohibited.
No net may have more meshes attached per foot
of corkline or leadline than 14 divided by the bar
measurement of the mesh in the net. The use of
trawls with a net or bag containing more than
500 square feet of mesh area is prohibited in
nearshore and inshore waters.
Any vessel in state waters with gill or entangling
nets aboard or more than four seines aboard and
vessels in nearshore or inshore waters with any
net with a mesh area larger than 500 square
feet aboard (the trawl door or frame may not be
deployed) must proceed as directly, continuously
and expeditiously as possible from the place
where the vessel is regularly moored to waters
where use of such nets is lawful and back or to
the licensed wholesale dealer where the catch
is to be sold. This requirement does not apply
to vessels containing or otherwise transporting
dry nets that are rolled, folded, or otherwise
properly stowed in “lock boxes” so as to make
their immediate use impracticable.
In all waters of the state, the possession of gill
or entangling nets or seines with a mesh area
larger than 500 square feet is prohibited on any
airboat, on any vessel with a forward-mounted
primary power source that is less than 25 feet
in length, and on any vessel less than 22 feet in
length.
Violations of these net gear regulations are
considered major violations. Civil penalties and
license suspensions may be assessed in addition
to court assessed criminal penalties
Gill nets used in the federal gill net fishery must
be marked at each end with the SPL number
of the vessel operator or vessel from which it is
deployed. Seines must be tended and marked
with the SPL number at each end.
Beach or haul seines, with the exception of nets
used in the specified area of the the Southwest
region, may not be soaked for more than one
hour from the time the mesh first enters the
water until the mesh is first retrieved. In the
Southwest region (Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte,
Lee, and Collier counties, except inside waters)
nets may be fished from one hour after sunset to
one hour before sunrise. Such nets may not be
soaked for more than 12 hours from the time the
first mesh is set until the first mesh is retrieved.
In this area a seine net with one unattached
wing is allowed; however, one end of the main
net must be anchored on the shore, and a vessel
with a white light visible from 360° and at least
one mile must be anchored at the seaward end of
the nets.
Purse seines or similar devices may not be used
to take food fish other than tuna and menhaden.
Lawfully used seines may have a pocket bunt on
the middle of the seine with a mesh size less than
two inches.
Trap Limitations/Marking Requirements
The use of any trap is prohibited in designated
areas off of Citrus, Hernando, and Pasco counties
during the following closed seasons.
Zone II - closed season Oct. 5 - May 20
Zone IV - closed season Oct. 5 - Dec. 1 &
April 2 - May 20
Zone V - closed season Oct. 5 - Nov. 30 & Mar.
16 - May 20
The boundaries for these zones are defined by
longitude and latitude in rule 68B-38(2), F.A.C.
Unless otherwise prohibited, finfish may be
harvested in a lawful black sea bass or pinfish
trap, or as bycatch in a lawful crab or crawfish
trap (licensing requirements apply to bycatch).
A lawful black sea bass trap may not exceed
two feet in any dimension and must have a
biodegradable panel and a throat not more than
five inches high by two inches wide. Black sea
bass traps are prohibited south of Latitude 27 °
N (a line extending east and west through the
Sarasota area on the west coast and Martin
County on the east coast). A lawful pinfish trap
may not exceed two feet in any dimension and
must have a throat or entrance not more than
3 inches high and ¾ inches wide. Possession
of fish traps not otherwise allowed by rule is
prohibited in state.
Each black sea bass trap must have the trap
owner’s saltwater products license number
permanently attached to the trap. Each buoy
attached to such trap shall have the letter “B”
and the owner’s saltwater products license
number affixed to it in legible figures at least 1.5
inches high.
Each trap and buoy used to harvest spiny
lobster, blue crab and stone crab shall have the
commercial harvester’s current endorsement
number permanently affixed in legible figures.
Each trap shall also have firmly affixed a current
trap tag issued annually by the Commission.
Traps with tags that are not firmly affixed by
nails, staples, or otherwise securely fastened as
may be provided by the Commission, shall be
considered untagged for enforcement purposes.
On each buoy, the affixed endorsement number
shall be at least 2 inches high. The buoy
color and license or trap number shall also be
permanently and conspicuously displayed on any
vessel used by a commercial harvester for setting
traps and buoys, so as to be readily identifiable
from the air and water, in the following manner:
A buoy or time release buoy shall be attached
to each trap or at each end of a weighted trap
trotline. The buoy shall be constructed of
styrofoam, cork, molded polyvinyl chloride, or
molded polystyrene, be of sufficient strength and
buoyancy to float, and be of such color, hue, and
brilliancy as to be easily distinguished, seen, and
located. Buoys shall be either spherical in shape
with a diameter no smaller than 6 inches or some
other shape so long as it is no shorter than 10
inches in the longest dimension and the width at
some point exceeds 5 inches. No more than 5 feet
of any buoy line attached to a buoy used to mark
a stone crab trap or attached to a trotline shall
float on the surface of the water.
From the Air – The buoy design approved
by the Commission shall be displayed and be
permanently affixed to the uppermost structural
portion of the vessel and displayed horizontally
with the painted design up. The display shall
exhibit the harvester’s approved buoy design,
unobstructed, on a circle 20 inches in diameter,
outlined in a contrasting color, together with
the endorsement number permanently affixed
beneath the circle in numerals no smaller than
10 inches in height.
From the Water – The buoy design approved
by the Commission shall be displayed and
be permanently affixed vertically to both
the starboard and port sides of the vessel
near amidship. The display shall exhibit the
harvester’s approved buoy design, unobstructed,
on a circle 8 inches in diameter, outlined in a
contrasting color, together with the endorsement
number permanently affixed beneath the circle
in numerals no smaller than 4 inches in height.
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