Federal Fishing Regulations

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Species Sections:

Snappers – Groupers – Other Reef Fish – Coastal Migratory Pelagics – Shellfish – Other – Coral – Highly Migratory Species

Click on a species group name to jump to that section.

In each section, click on a species image for detailed information about that species.

Note: * subject to in-season closure if landings are projected to reach the quota

Species Recreational Regulations Snappers Season Size Bag Limit Aggregate Federally permitted for-hire season: Closed Private recreational

season: 16″ TL* 2 per person* Closed* *Determined *Determined by each Gulf *Determined by each by each Red Snapper State Gulf State Gulf State (See Species page for Gulf state regulations)

10 snapper Open year-round 12″ TL combined total Gray (Mangrove) Snapper 10 snapper Open year-round 18″ TL 5 per person combined total Mutton Snapper

10 snapper Open year-round 12″ TL combined total Yellowtail Snapper

10 snapper Open year-round 12″ TL combined total Cubera Snapper

10 snapper Closed 12:01 AM, combined September 18, 2021 total Queen Snapper

10 snapper Closed 12:01 AM, combined September 18, 2021 total

Blackfin Snapper

10 snapper Closed 12:01 AM, combined September 18, 2021 total Wenchman Snapper

10 snapper Closed 12:01 AM, combined September 18, 2021 total Silk Snapper

20 reef fish Open year-round* 10″ TL 10 per person combined total Vermilion Snapper

20 reef Closes 12:01 AM on fish 8″ TL October 18, 2021 combined total Lane Snapper Groupers Season Size Bag Limit Aggregate

4 grouper Closed January – May 24″ TL 2 per person combined Open June – December* total Gag Grouper Closed 12:01 AM local time on September 15, 4 grouper 2021 20″ TL 2 per person combined Closed February – total March when fishing Red Grouper beyond 20 fathom break

Open year-round* 4 grouper Closed February – 24″ TL combined March when fishing total beyond 20 fathom break Black Grouper

Open year-round 4 grouper Closed February – 20″ TL combined March when fishing total beyond 20 fathom break Yellowfin Grouper

Open year-round 4 grouper Closed February – 16″ TL combined March when fishing total beyond 20 fathom break Scamp Grouper

Open year-round 4 grouper Closed February – combined March when fishing total beyond 20 fathom break Yellowmouth Grouper

4 grouper Open year-round combined total Yellowedge Grouper

4 grouper Open year-round combined total Snowy Grouper

4 grouper Open year-round 1 per vessel combined total Speckled Hind Grouper

4 grouper Open year-round 1 per vessel combined total

Warsaw Grouper

CLOSED Harvest Prohibited

Goliath Grouper CLOSED Harvest Prohibited

Nassau Grouper Other Reef Fish Season Size Bag Limit Aggregate

20 reef fish Open year-round combined total Golden Tilefish

20 reef fish Open year-round combined total Blueline Tilefish

20 reef fish Open year-round combined total Goldface Tilefish

20 reef Closed 12:01 AM local fish time on September 15, 15″ FL 1 per person combined 2021 total Gray Triggerfish

Open year-round Hogfish Management 14″ FL 5 per person Area

Hogfish Closed January – April Open May* Closed June – July Open August – October* 34″ FL 1 per person Closed November – Greater December Amberjack *Recreational fishing year begins August 1

5 fish Open year-round 14″-22″ FL combined total Lesser Amberjack

5 fish Open year-round 14″-22″ FL combined total Banded Rudderfish 20 reef fish Open year-round combined total Almaco Jack Coastal Migratory Season Size Bag Limit Pelagics

Open year-round 36″ FL 2 per person

Cobia (ling)

Open year-round 12″ FL 15 per person

Spanish Mackerel

Open year-round 24″ FL 3 per person

King Mackerel Shellfish Season Size Bag Limit Open January – March Closed April 1 – August 5 Open off Florida for 2 day mini-season the 3″ minimum 6 per person last consecutive carapace Wednesday and Thursday in July. Open August 6 – Spiny Lobster December Other Season Size Bag Limit

Closed Harvest Prohibited

Red Drum Coral and Other Species

Live Rock Harvest or possession of wild live rock is prohibited. Harvest and possession of aquacultured live rock requires a permit.

Other Marine Life Marine life organisms from the EEZ harvested or possessed by Florida residents or landed in Florida are subject to Florida’s Organisms Marine Life Rule. Contact Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission for more information 850-488-4676.

Highly Migratory Species

For Highly Migratory Species Compliance Guide Visit: Tunas, Billfish, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/atlantic-highly-migratory-species/atlantic-highly-migratory-species-fishery-compliance-guides Swordfish, Sharks Contact the HMS Division of NOAA Fisheries for more information: 301-427-8503

Federal Fishing Regulations are not always the same as state fishing regulations. For species that are not managed by federal regulations, states have the authority to extend state rules into federal waters for residents of that state or vessels landing a catch in that state. Species Sections:

Snappers – Groupers – Other Reef Fish – Coastal Migratory Pelagics – Shellfish – Coral – Highly Migratory Species

Click on a species group name to jump to that section.

In each section, click on a species image for detailed information about that species.

Note: * subject to in-season closure if landings are projected to reach the quota

Species Commercial Snappers Quota / Season Size Trip Limit Red Snapper is managed under an IFQ program. Anyone fishing for red 6,312,613 pounds GW 13″ TL snapper must possess IFQ allocation and follow Red Snapper established protocols.

Stock ACL of 2,230,000 12″ TL lbs WW

Gray (Mangrove) Snapper

Stock ACL of 143,694 lbs 18″ TL WW

Mutton Snapper

Stock ACL of 901,125 lbs WW 12″ TL Fishing year begins Yellowt August 1st ail Snapper

Stock ACL of 5,065 lbs 12″ TL WW Cubera Snapper

Stock ACL of 3,110,000 10″ TL lbs WW* Vermilio n Snapper Closes 12:01 AM on October 18, 2021 8″ TL Stock ACL of 301,000 lbs Lane WW Snapper

Closed 12:01 AM, September 18, 2021 Stock ACL of 166,000 lbs Queen WW Snapper

Closed 12:01 AM, September 18, 2021 Stock ACL of 166,000 lbs Blackf WW in Snapper

Closed 12:01 AM, September 18, 2021 Stock ACL of 166,000 lbs Wenchma WW n Snapper

Closed 12:01 AM, September 18, 2021 Stock ACL of 166,000 lbs Silk WW Snapper

Groupers Quota Size Trip Limit Grouper are managed under an IFQ program. Anyone commercially 939,000 pounds GW 24″ TL fishing for grouper Gag must possess IFQ Grouper allocation and follow established protocols.

3,000,000 pounds GW 18″ TL

Red Grouper

Shallow water grouper quota – 525,000 pounds 24″ TL Black GW Grouper

Shallow water grouper quota – 525,000 pounds 20″ TL Yellowfi GW n Grouper Shallow water grouper quota – 525,000 pounds GW *For the purposes of the IFQ, DWG allocation may be used to land and sell 16″ TL Scamp scamp once an IFQ Grouper account holder’s other SWG allocation has been landed and sold or transferred.

Shallow water grouper quota – 525,000 pounds Yellowm GW outh Grouper

Deep water grouper quota – 1,024,000 pounds GW Yellowe dge Grouper

Deep water grouper quota – 1,024,000 pounds GW Snowy Grouper Deep water grouper quota – 1,024,000 pounds GW *For purposes of the IFQ, these species are Speckle also included in the d Hind Grouper 525,000 lb GW SWG quota Deep water grouper quota – 1,024,000 pounds GW *For purposes of the IFQ, these species are Warsaw also included in the Grouper 525,000 lb GW SWG quota

Closed Harvest Prohibited

Goliath Grouper

Closed Harvest Prohibited

Nassau Grouper Other Reef Fish Quota Size Trip Limit Tilefish are managed under an IFQ program. Anyone commercially Overall tilefish quota – fishing for tilefish 582,000 pounds GW Golden must possess IFQ Tilefish allocation and follow established protocols.

Overall tilefish quota – 582,000 pounds GW Bluel ine Tilefish

Overall tilefish quota – 582,000 pounds GW Goldfa ce Tilefish

Stock ACL of 150,400 pounds WW 14″ FL Hogfish Management Area

Hogfish

60,900 Pounds WW* 14″ FL 16 fish Closed June – July Gray Triggerfish 1000 pounds GW. When 75% of the ACT is landed, 349,766 Pounds WW* 36″ FL the trip limit will be Closed March – May reduced to 250 pounds Greater Amberjack GW.

Stock ACL of 312,000 lbs 14″-22″ FL WW slot limit Lesser Amberjack

Stock ACL of 312,000 lbs 14″-22″ FL WW slot limit Banded Rudderfish

Stock ACL of 312,000 lbs WW Almaco Jack Coastal Migratory Quota Size Trip Limit Pelagics Combined Commercial and Daily possession limit – Recreational Quota: 36″ FL 2 pp 1,500,000 pounds Cobia (ling)

Stock ACL of 11,300,000 pounds 12″ FL Fishing year begins Span April 1 ish Mackerel Combined Gulf Group ACL: 2,740,000 pounds mixed weight Southern Zone: Gillnet 575,400 pounds mixed weight Closed at 12 p.m., local time, on January 28, 2021. Season opens at 6:00 a.m. the day after the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday, Southern Zone: including the first Gillnet weekend after the 24″ FL – 45,000 pounds mixed opening* Maximum of weightHook and Line Hook and Line 5% by 1,250 pounds mixed King 575,400 pounds mixed weight may weightNorthern Zone: Mackerel weight be 1,250 pounds mixed Closed 12:01 a.m., local undersized weightWestern Zone: time, on February 22, 3,000 pounds mixed 2021 weight Opens July 1* Northern Zone: 493,200 pounds mixed weight Opens October 1* Closed 12:01 a.m., local time, on June 28, 2021 Western Zone: 1,096,000 pounds mixed weight Opens July 1* Commercial Zones Map

Shellfish Quota/Closed Season Size Trip Limit 250 per day/vessel for spiny lobsters harvested Carapace by bully net or diving* more than *Harvesting by bully net 3″ or tail in or from all federal Closed April 1 – August more than 5 waters off Florida. 5 1/2″. Harvesting by diving in Divers must or from federal waters measure in only off Broward, Dade, water. Monroe, Collier, and Lee Spiny Lobster Counties, Florida None, but white shrimp taken in the EEZ and transported Royal red shrimp 337,000 to pounds tail weight* Louisiana must comply with Shrimp minimum size limit of that state. Coral and Coral Reefs

Octocorals (soft corals) were removed from the Coral and Coral Reefs Fishery Management Plan and are now managed by Florida FWC in state and Allowable Octocorals federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico. See Florida Fish Wildlife & Conservation Commission regulations.

Harvest or possession of wild live rock is Live Rock prohibited. Harvest and possession of aquacultured live rock requires a permit.

Marine life organisms from the EEZ harvested or possessed by Florida residents or landed in Other Marine Life Florida are subject to Florida’s Marine Life Organisms Rule. Contact Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission for more information 850-488-4676.

Highly Migratory Species

Gulf of Mexico Federal Waters

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council manages fisheries in the federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico Exclusive Economic Zone. Federal waters begin where state waters end and extend to the 200 mile limit of the Gulf of Mexico.

Title 50: Wildlife and Fisheries

Part 600 – Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions Subpart B – Regional Fishery Management Councils

§ 600.105 Intercouncil boundaries.

(c) South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Councils. The Boundary coincides with the line of demarcation between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, which begins at the intersection of the outer boundary of the EEZ, as specified in the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and 83°00’ W long., proceeds northward along that meridian to 24° 35’ N lat. (near the Dry Tortugas Islands), thence eastward along that parallel, through Rebecca Shoal and the Quicksand Shoal, to the Marquesas Keys, and then through the Florida Keys to the mainland at the eastern end of Florida Bay, the line so running that the narrow waters within the Dry Tortugas Islands, the Marquesas Keys and the Florida Keys, and between the Florida Keys and the mainland are within the Gulf of Mexico.

State Authority in Federal Waters

A state may regulate vessels that are registered in that state and fishing in federal waters for species for which there are no federal fishery management plans or applicable federal regulations, or for which the appropriate fishery management plan has delegated management of the state and the state rules are consistent with federal regulations.

NOTE: Federally permitted for-hire reef fish vessels must comply with the more restrictive of federal or state reef fish regulations when fishing for reef fish in state waters.

Marine Sanctuaries and Area Closures

Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary and Stetson Bank, McGrail Bank, West Flower Garden Bank, and East Flower Garden Bank Coral HAPCs

NOTE: Areas around Stetson Bank, West Flower Garden Bank, East Flower Garden Bank and McGrail Bank are regulated both as Coral HAPCs and as components of the National Marine Sanctuary. The boundaries and regulations associated with each area are different. Anglers should comply with the most restrictive regulations in areas where designations overlap.

A Comparison of Activity Restrictions Based on Coral Habitat of Particular Concern (HAPC) with fishing regulations or Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary Designation

Activity Coral HAPCs FGBNMS Hook and line Allowed Allowed fishing Prohibited for Prohibited for all Bottom anchoring fishing vessels vessels Fishing with bottom tending Prohibited Prohibited gear Spearfishing Allowed Prohibited Pelagic longline Allowed Prohibited

Coral HAPC Coordinates and Associated Regulations

Stetson Bank, West Flower Garden Bank, East Flower Garden Bank, and McGrail Bank

Fishing with a bottom longline, bottom trawl, buoy gear, dredge, pot, or trap and bottom anchoring by fishing vessels are prohibited year-round.

Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary Coordinates and Associated Regulations For the full text regulations, contact the Sanctuary office at 409-621-5151 or visit https://flowergarden.noaa.gov.

Fishing and Related Activities The following activities are generally prohibited:

Injuring, catching, harvesting, collecting or feeding, or attempting to injure, catch, harvest, collect or feed, any fish within the sanctuary by use of any gear, device, equipment or means (e.g. spear guns, nets) except by use of conventional hook and line gear. Possessing (except while passing through the sanctuary without interruption) any fishing gear, device, equipment, or means except conventional hook and line gear. Possessing or using explosives or releasing electrical charges within the sanctuary.

Conventional hook and line gear means any fishing apparatus operated aboard a vessel and composed of a single line terminated by a combination of sinkers and hooks or lures and spooled upon a reel that may be hand or electrically operated, hand-held or mounted.

Anchoring and Mooring The following activities are prohibited:

Anchoring any vessel within the Sanctuary. Mooring a vessel over 100 feet in registered length on a Sanctuary mooring buoy.

Discharges Discharging or depositing any material or other matter within the Sanctuary is prohibited, with the following exceptions:

Fish, fish parts, chumming materials or bait used in or resulting from fishing with conventional hook and line gear in the sanctuary. Clean effluent from an operable Type I or Type II marine sanitation devise (MSD). Clean water generated by routine vessel operations (e.g. engine exhaust, cooling water, deck wash down, and gray water), excluding oily wastes from bilge pumping.

Injury to or Possession of Sanctuary Resources The following activities are generally prohibited:

Injuring or removing, or attempting to injure or remove, any coral or other bottom formation, coralline algae or other plant, marine invertebrate (e.g., spiny lobster, queen conch, shell, sea urchin), brine-seep biota or carbonate rock. Possessing within the Sanctuary (regardless of where collected), any coral or other bottom formation, coralline algae or other plant, or fish (except for fish caught by use of conventional hook and line gear). Drilling into, dredging, or otherwise altering the seabed of the sanctuary; or constructing, placing, or abandoning any structure, material, or other matter on the seabed of the Sanctuary.

Fishing with a bottom longline, bottom trawl, buoy gear, pot, or trap and bottom anchoring by fishing vessels are prohibited year-round.

Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Tortugas North and South Ecological Reserves The following locations are closed to all fishing. Anchoring of fishing vessels is also not allowed. The boundaries of the areas are as follows:

RECREATIONAL Tortugas North COMMERCIAL Tortugas North

Madison Swanson, Steamboat Lumps, and the Edges 50 CFR: Wildlife and Fisheries – PART 622 FISHERIES OF THE CARIBBEAN, GULF OF MEXICO, AND SOUTH ATLANTIC §622.34 – Gulf EEZ seasonal and/or area closures.

Fishing prohibited year-round. Possession of reef fish prohibited even for vessels in transit unless the vessel has an operating vessel monitoring system, a valid federal commercial Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Permit, and fishing gear is appropriately stowed.

The Edges (40 fathom contour) The Edges (40 fathom contour) is closed January 1 through April 30 to all fishing. The Edges is a 390 nautical square mile region northwest of Steamboat Lumps.

The Middle Grounds 50 CFR: Wildlife and Fisheries – PART 622 FISHERIES OF THE CARIBBEAN, GULF OF MEXICO, AND SOUTH ATLANTIC §622.34 – Gulf EEZ seasonal and/or area closures.

(b) Florida middle grounds HAPC. Fishing with a bottom longline, bottom trawl, dredge, pot, or trap is prohibited year round.

Pulley Ridge 50 CFR: Wildlife and Fisheries – PART 622 FISHERIES OF THE CARIBBEAN, GULF OF MEXICO, AND SOUTH ATLANTIC §622.34 – Gulf EEZ seasonal and/or area closures.

(r) Pulley Ridge HAPC. Fishing with a bottom longline, bottom trawl, buoy gear, dredge, pot, or trap and bottom anchoring by fishing vessels are prohibited year-round in the HAPC.

Reef Fish Stressed Areas A powerhead may not be used in the stressed area to take Gulf reef fish. A roller trawl may not be used in the stressed area.

Commercial – Bottom Longline Closures 50 CFR: Wildlife and Fisheries – PART 622 FISHERIES OF THE CARIBBEAN, GULF OF MEXICO, AND SOUTH ATLANTIC §622.34 – Gulf EEZ seasonal and/or area closures.

From June through August each year, bottom longlining for Gulf reef fish is prohibited in the portion of the Gulf EEZ east of 85°30’ W longitude (Cape San Blas). Coral Amendment 9 Habitat Areas of Particular Concern (HAPCs) Pulley Ridge South Portion A

Deployment of a bottom trawl, buoy gear, pot or trap, and bottom anchoring by fishing vessels is prohibited year-round.

Rough Tongue Reef