Spiny lobster season runs July 27-28, and Aug. 6, 2022 - March 31, 2023
FWC photo of boater with spiny lobster; note divers-down flag.
The 2022 spiny lobster season opens with the two-day recreational mini-season on July 27 and 28, 2022, followed by the regular commercial and recreational lobster season, which starts August 6, 2022 and runs through March 31, 2023.
“Spiny lobster season is an exciting time for anglers of all ages to be on the water,” said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) Commissioner Robert Spottswood. “It’s also a great time to practice safe boating and take care around Florida’s coral reefs.”
Learn more about bag limits, size limits, where to harvest and other regulations here: myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/lobster. If you plan to lobster in the Keys, another great resource is the Monroe County Tourist Development Council website KeysLobsterSeason.com.
Don’t forget to get your license and spiny lobster permit at GoOutdoorsFlorida.com.
Looking to keep up to date on Florida’s saltwater fishing regulations? Find them on the Fish Rules app. Learn more at FishRulesApp.com or follow Fish Rules at Instagram.com/FishRulesApp or Facebook.com/FishRulesApp.
If bully netting this season, please keep lights directed toward the water and avoid shining them at houses or people along the shoreline. Please be considerate of others by keeping sound levels low when near shoreline residences.
Don’t forget to use care around corals and other marine life. FWC launched the Florida Coral Crew to engage sportsmen and women in the effort to combat Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease. Before you go out looking for lobster, you can sign up to join the crew at FLCoralCrew.com.
Be safe when diving for lobster. Wear a life jacket when underway and do not drink and boat. When lobstering in open water, divers should stay within 300 feet of a properly displayed divers-down flag or device and within 100 feet of a properly displayed divers-down flag or device if near an inlet or navigation channel. Boat operators traveling within 300 feet of a divers-down flag or device in open water or within 100 feet of one on an inlet or navigational channel must slow to idle speed.
Divers-down Warning Devices:
The following regulations apply whenever someone is wholly or partially submerged and is using a face mask and snorkel or underwater breathing apparatus. A divers-down warning device may be a divers-down flag, buoy, or other similar warning device. These devices are designed for, and used by, divers and dive vessels as a way to notify nearby boaters that divers are in the water in the immediate area. The device must be displayed prominently when in use. The divers-down warning device must meet the following requirements.
• The divers-down warning device must contain a divers-down symbol. The symbol is a red rectangle or square with a white diagonal stripe. If the symbol is a rectangle, the length may not be less than the height or more than 25% longer than the height. The width of the stripe must be 25% of the height of the symbol. If multiple stripes are displayed, all of the stripes must be oriented in the same direction.
• The size of the divers-down symbol depends on whether the divers-down warning device is displayed from the water or from a vessel. On the water, the divers-down symbol must be at least 12 x 12 inches in size. On a vessel, the symbol must be at least 20 x 24 inches in size.
• When displayed on a boat, the divers-down warning device also must be displayed at the highest point of the vessel so that its visibility is not obstructed in any direction.
• If the divers-down warning device is a flag, the divers-down symbol must be on each face and have a wire stiffener or be otherwise constructed to ensure it remains fully unfurled and extended, even when there is no wind or breeze.
• If the divers-down symbol is a buoy, the buoy must have three or four sides with the divers-down symbol displayed on each of the flat sides. The buoy must be prominently visible on the water’s surface and can’t displayed on the vessel.
• Boaters must make reasonable efforts to stay at least 300 feet away from divers-down warning devices in open water and at least 100 feet away in rivers, inlets, or navigation channels. Boaters approaching divers-down warning devices closer than 300 feet in open water and 100 feet in rivers, inlets, or navigation channels must slow down to idle speed.
• Divers must make a reasonable effort to stay within 100 feet of a divers-down flag or a buoy within rivers, inlets, or navigation channels and within 300 feet on open water.
A divers-down warning device may not be displayed when divers are out of the water.
Divers-Down Regulations
Divers-down flags displayed from a boat must:
• Be displayed from the highest point of the boat so that their view is not obstructed in any direction.
• Be at lest 20 inches by 24 inches.
• Have a stiffener to keep it extended (visable) when there is no wind.
Boaters must:
• Stay at least 300 feet (the length of a football field) away from a divers-down symbol when in open waters, such as bays, oceans and gulf.
• Stay at least 100 feet away from a divers-down symnbol when in narrow waterways such as rivers or canals.
• Travel at idle speed, fully settled in the water, if boat must pass wihin the distances listed above (300 feet in oper waters or 100 feet in narrow waterways).
Divers and snorkelers must:
• Stay within 300 feet of a divers-down symbol in open waters such a bays, oceans and gulf.
• Stay within 100 feet of a divers-down symbol in narrow waerways such as rivers or canals.
• Only display divers-down symbols while divers or snorkelers are in the water.