Florida's FWC approves new Redfish Management Rules
by Yellowfin 13 Jul 2022 11:44 PDT
Florida's FWC approves new Redfish Management Rules © Yellowfin
At its May meeting, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) approved proposed management regions and regulation changes for redfish in Florida waters.
The proposed rule changes would:
- Modify the redfish management regions.
- Prohibit captain and crew from retaining a bag limit when on a for-hire trip.
- Reduce the off-the-water transport limit from six to four fish per person.
- Increase the bag limit for the Big Bend region from one to two fish per person
- Reduce the eight-fish vessel limit in each of the proposed management regions:
- Panhandle, Big Bend, Northeast: four fish.
- Tampa Bay, Sarasota Bay, Charlotte Harbor, Southwest, Southeast: two fish.
- Allow only catch-and-release fishing for redfish in the Indian River Lagoon region.
"With this new management approach, this agency is committed to continuing to work with our partners and stakeholders in finding solutions for redfish" said FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto. These proposals are not final and staff plans to continue to gather input on the proposed rules and will return to the Commission for a Final Rule Hearing later this year. Read about Florida's proposed Redfish Management changes here...