Recently, the bag limit and the season of two very popular fish has changed. These fish are the Grouper and the Hogfish. For the Hogfish, the bag limit has decreased drastically. The bag limit of these tasty fish has decreased from five to one fish per harvest on the Atlantic side of Florida’s waters. Next, for the Gag Grouper the season has changed as well as the size limit. The size limit has now been changed to 24-inch total length minimum size for the recreational harvest of these Groupers. The season was also changed for Gag Groupers to June 1 to December 31. This season used to be from September 1 to December 31.
All of these changes in fishing regulations are intended to grow the fisheries of these two species. The reason why these limits have been put in place is to protect the future of our fisheries for future generations to come. Similar limits have been put on other species which has lead to a significant increase in their population. These types of limits in my opinion do work and will benefit future generations of fishermen. You can find these and other important rule changes at MyFWC.com.
Grace Gillis
President, Lamar Louise Curry
Middle School Fishing Club