At its October meeting, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) approved changes to recreational and commercial stone crab regulations for escape ring requirements.
These regulation changes include:
- For the 2023-24 stone crab season, an unobstructed escape ring 2 3/16 inches in diameter for all recreational and commercial plastic or wood stone crab traps is required, with no location requirement specified.
- For the 2024-25 stone crab season and beyond, an unobstructed escape ring 2 3/16 inches in diameter to be located within a vertical exterior trap wall for all recreational and commercial plastic or wood stone crab traps is required.
For more information, including the October 2023 Commission meeting presentation, visit MyFWC.com/Commission and click on “Commission Meetings.”
For current recreational stone crab regulations, visit MyFWC.com/Marine and click on “Recreational Regulations,” “Crabs, Lobster and other Shellfish” and “Stone Crab.”
For current commercial stone crab regulations, visit MyFWC.com/Marine and click on “Commercial Regulations” and “Stone Crab.”
