When fishing in Florida waters, be sure to know the often changing fishery rules
When anglers are looking to take a few fish fillets home for the dinner table, it wouldn’t surprise me if some end up a bit confused when looking at the ever changing fishery laws. Not long ago, seasons were firmly set and your law stick ruler or size limit cheat sheet was good for quite some time. Now closed seasons occur not only monthly but sometimes weekly with little warning.
The most recent occurrence of a surprise closed season was earlier this month. Lane snapper, a species anglers will say is in no threat of being depleted, had their season closed for 2019 on Dec. 13. This was done at the request of federal fishery managers when their quota for 2019 was reached. Bizarre, but the same should not happen again in 2020.
Fear not, as lane snapper will reopen soon in January.
Red snapper saw an extension to their open season in 2019 with a few weekends opening up in the fall at the request of Gov. DeSantis. The problem, unfortunately, was the terrible weather. It was so bad that the governor’s office extended it from three weekends to four. But on that fourth weekend it was once again rough seas, leaving most at home.
For 2020 the red snapper season is proposed at 45 days from June 11 to July 25. This short season will continue to irritate anglers who repeatedly catch red snapper on almost all offshore bottoms deep in the Gulf of Mexico.
Two other species that have had ongoing seasonal changes are amberjack and triggerfish, both of which saw early closures during their fishing seasons.
Amberjack are an outlier with their fishing season beginning in August and ending in July. This meant a closure in 2019 during May, when they were originally forecast to be open. The FWC doesn’t list amberjack with a May opening in 2020, so it appears as though the season won’t reopen until August.
Triggerfish are a species I commonly see anglers still bringing back to docks and posting pictures of on social media. I believe their season opened and closed before most anglers even realized it in 2019. As of now, no season is available for 2020.
Other rules anglers should be aware of that they might not know:
▪ Cobia are not to exceed two per vessel in state waters at 33 inches fork length minimum. In federal waters it is proposed to move up to 36 inches fork at two per person. If you plan on stopping in state waters, don’t have more than two cobia.
▪ Blackfin tuna limits will be in place starting in 2020 as well. The new law will be two fish per person or 10 fish per vessel, whichever is greater.
▪ For inshore anglers snook, trout and redfish will remain closed through May 31 in our area.
When and if it reopens, new trout laws will be in place. It will now be a three per person bag limit, with a recreational slot limit of 15 to 19 inches. One trout over 19 inches per vessel will be allowed.
Stay up to date with fishery laws by visiting the FWC website or GulfCouncil.org for federal laws.