New flounder regulations for Florida, effective March 1
Starting March 1, the following changes will go into effect for flounder fishing regulations:
•Extending ALL Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission flounder regulations into federal waters.
•Increasing the minimum size limit from 12 inches to 14 inches total length (recreational and commercial).
•Reducing the recreational daily bag limit from 10 to 5 fish per person.
•Establishing an Oct. 15 through Nov. 30 recreational closed season.
Regulations for commercial harvesters using allowable gear:
•Establishing a commercial trip and vessel limit of 150 fish from Dec. 1 through Oct. 14, and 50 fish from Oct. 15 through Nov. 30.
•Modifying the incidental bycatch limit for commercial harvesters using non-allowable gear from 50 pounds per trip to 50 fish per trip.
•Creating a federal waters trawl bycatch limit of 150 fish per trip from Dec. 1 through Oct. 14, and 50 fish per trip from Oct. 15 through Nov. 30.
The Commission approved these changes at its December 2020 meeting because a stock status update suggested that the flounder fishery statewide has been in a general declining trend and is likely overfished and undergoing overfishing on the Atlantic coast of Florida. Other south Atlantic and Gulf states have also reported declines in flounder populations and have been making their own regulation changes.
Learn more about flounder regulations at MyFWC.com/Marine.