68B-4.017. Gear Specifications for the Southwest Region: Exceptions to Statewide Net Gear Requirements; Areas Closed to Net Fishing; J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge/Sanibel Conservation Zone; Blind Pass Seasonal Closure to Net Fishing; Definition

The requirements in this rule shall apply in the Southwest Region, which shall include the state waters of Collier, Lee, Charlotte, Sarasota, Manatee, Hillsborough, and Pinellas Counties.

(1) In Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, and Collier Counties, a two net seine, consisting of a main net and unattached wing, may be possessed and fished if the following operational requirements and specifications are met:

(a) Neither seine shall have a mesh area exceeding 500 square feet, and the two seines shall not be connected.

(b) One end of the main net shall be anchored on the shore.

(c) During the period beginning one hour after official sunset and ending one hour before official sunrise, a boat with a white light visible 3600 from a distance of not less than one mile shall be anchored at the most seaward point of the seine.

(d) The seine shall not be soaked for more than 12 hours, beginning when the first mesh is placed in the water and ending when the first mesh is retrieved on shore. Once the first mesh is retrieved on shore, the net retrieval and fish clearing operation shall be continuous until all parts of the net are completely removed from the water.

(e) The tending requirements of subsection 68B-4.008(1), F.A.C., shall be observed.

(f) The seine allowed by this subsection shall not be fished in the inside waters of the counties to which this subsection applies. This shall not be construed to prohibit the anchoring of the main net on shore, when the remainder of the main net and the wing are fished outside the Colregs Demarcation Line.

(2) During the period beginning on November 1 of each year and continuing through January 31 of the following year, no person shall fish with, set, or place any beach or haul seine in the waters of the region described in this subsection to harvest or attempt to harvest any marine fish.

(a) All the waters of the Gordon River in Collier County and its tributaries north of US 41.

(b) All the waters of the Imperial River in Lee County and its tributaries, including those connecting the Imperial River with Big Hickory Bay, upstream of a line immediately east of the intersection of channels connecting the river with Fish Trap Bay and Little Hickory Bay, which line runs between a point located at 26°20.150'N, 81°50.300'W on the east side of the river to a point located at 26°20.150'N, 81°50.333'W on the west side of the river.

(c) All of the Estero River in Lee County and its tributaries, including those connecting the Estero River with Rocky Bay, upstream of the mouth of the river, which is east of a line that runs between a point at 26°25.850'N, 81°51.505'W on the north side of the river mouth to a point at 26°25.835'N, 81°51.486'W on the south side of the river mouth.

(d) All of Hendry Creek in Lee County and its tributaries, upstream of the mouth of the river, which is north of a line that runs between Dixon Point at 26°27.488'N, 81°52.221'W on the west side of the river mouth and the northernmost edge of the mouth of Mullock Creek at 26°27.694'N, 81°52.097'W on the east side of the river mouth.

(e) All of the Myakka River in Charlotte and Sarasota Counties and its tributaries north and west of State Road 776 at El Jobean.

(f) All of the Alafia River in Hillsborough County and its tributaries east of US Highway 41 at Gibsonton.

(g) All of Hillsborough River in Hillsborough County and its tributaries north of the Platt Street Bridge in Tampa.

(3) J. N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge/Sanibel Conservation Zone – Within the following described area in proximity to Sanibel Island in Lee County, no person shall harvest or attempt to harvest any marine species from any vessel to which is attached or which contains a simultaneously operating internal combustion engine.

Beginning at the mean high water line at a point due north from the intersection of Dixie Beach Boulevard and Woodring Road, and proceeding north (waterward) 300 feet; thence generally westerly at a set distance of 300 feet offset from the irregular contours of the mangrove shoreline and continuing 300 feet waterward of the Wulfert Keys to the center line of Blind Pass; thence southwest to the Gulf of Mexico at a point 300 feet waterward of the center of Blind Pass; thence southeast to the southeastern extent of the mouth of Clam Bayou Pass, and including all waterways, bays, creeks, and bayous landward of the boundary line.

(4) Blind Pass Seasonal Closure to Net Fishing – Within the following described area, during the period beginning on November 1 of each year and continuing through January 31 of the following year, no person shall fish with, set, or place in the water any cast net.

Beginning at the northern side of the mouth of Dinken Bayou (also known as Jenkins Bayou) on Sanibel Island and proceeding southwesterly to the south side of the mouth of Roosevelt Channel on Captiva Island; thence following the shoreline of Captiva Island southwesterly to the conjunction of Captiva Island with the Colregs Demarcation Line on the northwest side of the mouth of Blind Pass on the Gulf of Mexico; thence following the Colregs Demarcation Line to the southeast side of the mouth of Blind Pass on Sanibel Island; thence northeasterly to the southern side of the mouth of Dinken Bayou; thence continuously along the interior shoreline of Dinken Bayou to the point of beginning.

Rulemaking Authority Art. IV, Sec. 9, Fla. Const. Law Implemented Art. IV, Sec. 9, Fla. Const. History–New 9-1-93, Amended 9-30-96, Formerly 46-4.017, Amended 4-13-17.