Stone Crab Season Opens; Flounder Harvest Closed

Stone Crab season opened and flounder season closed this week, according to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission regs.

STONE CRAB

The recreational and commercial stone crab harvest seasons opened Oct. 15 and will close May 2, the FWC said. The minimum claw size limit is 2 7/8 inches. An unobstructed escape ring measuring 2 3/16 inches in diameter must be located within a vertical exterior trap wall for all recreational and commercial plastic or wood stone crab traps.

Recreational Trap Registration

Recreational harvesters 16 and older (including those normally exempt from needing a license) are required to complete an online, no-cost recreational stone crab trap registration each year. Click here to register

To register, visit GoOutdoorsFlorida.com, sign in, click the “Click here to get a License!” tile, scroll down to the “Saltwater Fishing” section, and select “Recreational Stone Crab Trap Registration.”

Upon completion, each person will receive unique trap registration numbers that must be included on each trap along with the owner’s full name and address, and be legible and permanently attached to each trap.

FWC Stone Crab Tips

• Care should be taken when removing the claws so as to not permanently injure the crab.
• Claws may not be taken from egg-bearing stone crabs.
• Stone crabs may not be harvested with any device that can puncture, crush or injure a crab’s body (such as spears and hooks).
• Recreational harvesters may take a daily bag limit of 1 gallon of claws per person or 2 gallons per vessel, whichever is less, and may use up to five stone crab traps per person.
• Traps that are not being fished should be removed from the water to avoid ghost fishing, a process in which marine species get caught in the trap for extended periods of time and are not harvested.
• Stone crab regulations are the same in state and federal waters.

Click for more info

FLOUNDER

Flounder fishing in Gulf and state waters closed on Oct. 15, and will be closed to harvest through Nov. 30.

FWC says the closure each year helps protect flounder during pre-spawning activity and ensure more fish can reproduce.

Click for more info

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