Published on: 17717455. In general, state and federal regulations require most marine fish to be landed whole (e.g., fish may not be possessed as fillets on the water). In January 2016, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council created an exemption allowing recreational anglers to transit Atlantic federal waters with fillets of recreationally harvested wahoo from The Bahamas provided specific conditions were met. The Commission is considering rules that are consistent with recent changes for federal waters. Specifically, these proposed rules would create an exception in state rule allowing anglers to land wahoo as fillets instead of as whole fish, provided the wahoo were recreationally harvested in The Bahamas and anglers adhere to several conditions.
To qualify for this exception, anglers would be required to keep skin on fillets for the purpose of species identification. Anglers would also be required to comply with South Atlantic federal bag and possession limits. For the purpose of these rules, two fillets would count as one fish towards the wahoo bag and passion limits. To serve as proof that the fish were harvested in Bahamian waters, the vessel would be required to have valid Bahamian fishing and cruising permits and each passenger aboard the vessel would be required to possess a valid government passport with current stamps and dates from The Bahamas. When transiting state waters, the vessel would be required to maintain a continuous course with all fishing gear stowed. The final condition would prohibit sale and purchase of wahoo transited to Florida under this exception.
The proposed rule changes would benefit Florida residents and tourists who depart from Florida ports to fish in The Bahamas, because it would allow them to return to Florida with their Bahamian-caught wahoo as fillets. Aboard small recreational fishing vessels, it is more practical to store fish as fillets, rather than as whole fish, and doing so can help minimize food safety risks. Additionally, implementing these proposed rules would create consistency with federal regulations off Florida’s Atlantic coast and make rule compliance simpler for recreational anglers.
The effect of the proposed rules would be an exception allowing recreational anglers to land wahoo as fillets, rather than as whole fish, when returning to Florida by boat with wahoo caught in Bahamian waters. Creating this exception would benefit Florida residents and tourists by offering them an alternative means to safely store and transport their Bahamian catch and by creating consistent regulations with adjacent federal waters.
Published on: 17015951. The purpose and effect of this rule development notice is to address possible rule amendments for wahoo in the 2016 calendar year as a result of stock assessments, federal regulatory actions or other management or enforcement requirements.
Published on: 15511966. The purpose and effect of this rule development notice is to address possible rule amendments for wahoo in the 2015 calendar year as a result of stock assessments, federal regulatory actions or other management or enforcement requirements.
Published on: 12993749. This rule chapter has been created to relocate the wahoo rules originally found in the dolphin chapter (68B-41) in the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (Commission) rules. The wahoo rules have also been reformatted to simplify the rule language, making it easier to understand and improving the enforceability of the regulations. This rulemaking is part of a rule cleanup effort of Division 68B that will standardize chapters by using the same format for each rule that regulates species, making specific provisions easier to find. Additionally, rule language has been clarified and outdated language has been removed.
The effect of the new chapter will be improved rule clarity and enforceability and simplified rule language, making the language easier to understand. The creation of the new chapter will not affect the meaning of current wahoo regulations nor change the intent of the rules.
Published on: 12428918. The purpose and effect of this rule development notice is to address possible creation of a new rule chapter for wahoo and to address other possible rule amendments for the wahoo fisheries in the 2013 calendar year as a result of stock assessments, federal regulatory actions, efforts to increase the clarity of the regulations, or other management or enforcement requirements, or to address amendments resulting from the agency’s comprehensive review of Division 68B.