Regular Spiny Lobster Season

from Better Off Wet Water Lifestyle Magazine October 2022

by Better Off Wet - Water Lifestyle Magazine

History of Diving Museum: The Quest to Explore Under the Sea

Regular Spiny Lobster Season

38 BETTER OFF WET | OCTOBER 2022

Season: Aug. 6-March 31 Daily Bag Limit: 6 per person Possession limit on the water: Equal to the daily bag limit Minimum Size Limit: Carapace must be larger than 3”, measured in the water. Possession and use of a measuring device required at all times. Prohibitions: Harvest of lobster is prohibited in John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park during the sport season and in Everglades National Park, Dry Tortugas National Park, no-take areas in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, in the Biscayne Bay/Card Sound Lobster Sanctuary, and in the five Coral Reef Protection Areas in Biscayne National Park during both the 2-day sport season and regular season. Unless exempt, a recreational saltwater fishing license and a lobster permit are required to harvest spiny lobster. Lobster must be landed in whole condition. Separating the tail from the body is prohibited in state waters. The harvest or possession of eggbearing spiny lobster, or any other eggbearing species of lobster belonging to the families Palinuridae (spiny lobsters), Scyllaridae (slipper lobsters), or Synaxidae (furry lobsters) is prohibited. No person shall harvest or attempt to harvest spiny lobster using any device which will or could puncture, penetrate or crush the exoskeleton (shell) or the flesh of the lobster. Recreational trapping is prohibited. Regardless of what species you are fishing for, bag limits are only for properly licensed individuals and those people exempt from license requirements who are actively harvesting. People harvesting may not exceed their individual bag limit and take someone else’s bag limit. That is, people (including children) who are not actively harvesting or are not properly licensed (if a license is required) may NOT be counted for purposes of bag limits. The text and regulation images for Florida Spiny Lobster, in this article, are provided by myfwc.com. Photos in this article are courtesy of Shawn May in Spring Hill, FL.