• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Submit News
  • Contact Us

Capital Soup

Florida News Straight From the Source

  • Soup Du Jour
  • People
  • Government
  • Campaign
  • Business
  • Education
  • Insights
  • Video
You are here: Home / Soup Du Jour / Hogfish conservation measures and boundaries effective Aug. 24

Hogfish conservation measures and boundaries effective Aug. 24

Posted on August 14, 2017

A new management boundary and several conservation measures for hogfish will go into effect in state and federal waters starting Aug. 24. State changes were approved by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) at its November 2016 meeting. 
Hogfish is overfished and undergoing overfishing in the Florida Keys and east Florida. Federal law requires the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council to end overfishing immediately and implement a 10-year rebuilding plan.
Because most hogfish off the Keys and east Florida are taken in Florida state waters, consistency with regulations approved in Atlantic federal waters is necessary to rebuild the stock.
The new management boundary between the Keys/east Florida and Gulf stocks will be at 25 degrees 9 minutes north latitude (a line due west of Cape Sable, which is on the Gulf side of Florida). Starting Aug. 24, hogfish north of Cape Sable will be managed as Gulf hogfish, and hogfish south of that line, around the tip of Florida and up the Atlantic coast, will be managed as Atlantic hogfish. Prior to this change, the boundary for hogfish was a line following U.S. Highway 1 in the Florida Keys. This new management boundary line is closer to where Gulf and Atlantic hogfish stocks naturally separate as determined by a recent genetic study.
Other approved conservation changes effective Aug. 24 include:

  • Lowering the Atlantic recreational daily bag limit from five to one fish per harvester.
  • Setting an Atlantic recreational harvest season of May 1 through Oct. 31.
  • Increasing the Atlantic recreational and commercial minimum size limit from 12 to 16 inches fork length.
  • Increasing the Gulf recreational and commercial minimum size limit from 12 to 14 inches fork length.
  • Setting the minimum importation and sale size limit to 14 inches fork length statewide.

The size limit increase and recreational season will allow Atlantic hogfish more opportunities to spawn before entering the fishery and, along with a bag limit change, will help rebuild the Keys/east Florida hogfish population to sustainable levels.
The size limit change for Gulf state waters is also consistent with regulations for federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf stock is healthy, but stakeholders requested an increase in the minimum size limit as a conservation measure to give hogfish additional spawning opportunities. 
Visit MyFWC.com/Fishing and click on “Saltwater Fishing,” “Recreational Regulations” and “Hogfish” for more.

Share this article! Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Filed Under: Soup Du Jour Tagged With: conservation measures, Hogfish, MyFWC

Primary Sidebar

    Submit News    

Democratic Lawmakers Condemn GOP Legislation Targeting Civil Rights Protests

Prominent Democratic lawmakers on Thursday sharply condemned Republican-backed legislation filed for the … [Read More...] about Democratic Lawmakers Condemn GOP Legislation Targeting Civil Rights Protests

MEGA MILLIONS jackpot increases to $625 million ahead of tonight’s draw

MEGA MILLIONS® and POWERBALL® Combined Jackpots climb to $1.1 Billion! Players have a chance to win big this … [Read More...] about MEGA MILLIONS jackpot increases to $625 million ahead of tonight’s draw

Southeast Florida Behavioral Health Network Partners with Law Enforcement to Reduce Opioid Deaths

In response to the rising opioid epidemic, Southeast Florida Behavioral Health Network is working with the … [Read More...] about Southeast Florida Behavioral Health Network Partners with Law Enforcement to Reduce Opioid Deaths

Keep in Touch

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Newsletter signup

Stay in the loop! Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to receive a brief recap of the week's most popular stories.

Footer

News

  • Soup Du Jour
  • People
  • Government
  • Campaign
  • Business
  • Education
  • Insights
  • Video

About Us 

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Submit News
  • Contact Us

Keep in Touch

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2021
Terms & Conditions

© Copyright 2021 Capital Soup · All Rights Reserved ·