FISH AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION COMMISSION
RULE NO.:RULE TITLE:
68B-24.006Gear: Traps, Buoys, Identification Requirements, Prohibited Devices
NOTICE OF CHANGE
Notice is hereby given that the following changes have been made to the proposed rule in accordance with subparagraph 120.54(3)(d)1., F.S., published in Vol. 39, No. 31, February 14, 2013 issue of the Florida Administrative Register.
Proposed amendment to Rule 68B-24.006 has been changed to include the following revised subsection (7):
(7) During any time of the year when it is legal to transport spiny lobster traps, a harvester shall may obtain permission from the Division of Law Enforcement to allow another person to transport, deploy, pull, or retrieve his or her traps. Permission shall may be granted upon receipt of a written statement signed by both the commercial harvester seeking to have his or her traps pulled and the person designated to pull the traps. Such written statement shall contain the following:
(a) through (e) No change.
(f) The dates the other person will be transporting, deploying, pulling or retrieving the traps.
Permission to pull traps in this manner shall be obtained daily by telephone from the Division of Law Enforcement for a maximum of 5 days without renewal or extension of the request. Permission to have traps pulled by another person for a longer period of time, must be based on extraordinary circumstances such as severe personal or family illness or accident or major equipment problem, and shall be obtained through petition to the Division of Law Enforcement on Commission Form DMF-SL5030 (02-13) (Spiny Lobster Trap Pulling Petition) found online at: www.flrules.org, herein incorporated by reference, and shall will be granted upon such conditions as the division deems appropriate for the protection of the resource. It shall be the responsibility of the commercial harvester, or a member of the harvester’s immediate family, to petition the division. The petition shall include a complete description of the extraordinary circumstances with corroborating documentation, the amount of additional time requested, the number of traps to be pulled, and a signed notarized statement from the other person, attesting to his/her willingness and ability to pull these traps during this time period as well as an awareness of all rules governing the spiny lobster fishery. The person designated to pull the petitioner’s traps is required to establish a float plan with Division of Law Enforcement Dispatch for each day traps will be pulled prior to pulling traps. If the person designated to pull the petitioner’s traps does not possess a saltwater products license with restricted species and a crawfish endorsement, the petitioner, as the license holder of record must possess a vessel saltwater products license and shall be held accountable for the designee’s compliance with all regulations governing the spiny lobster fishery. Permission to pull another’s traps shall not be granted to a person holding a commercial dive permit.
Rulemaking Specific Authority Art. IV, Sec. 9, Fla. Const. Law Implemented Art. IV, Sec. 9, Fla. Const. History–New 7-2-87, Amended 7-2-90, 3-1-92, 7-1-92, 6-1-94, 10-4-95, 9-30-96, 6-1-99, Formerly 46-24.006, Amended 7-1-01, 7-9-02, 7-7-03, 4-1-04, 7-1-08,___________.
No other changes were made to the rule amendments as proposed.
