FWC permanently waives license requirement for lionfish harvest

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The Chairman

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For immediate release: June 12, 2013
Contact: Amanda Nalley, 850-410-4943

FWC permanently waives license requirement for lionfish harvest

Temporary changes making it easier for divers to help control the lionfish population will be put into Florida rule soon.
At its June 12 meeting in Lakeland, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) adopted changes that will waive the recreational license requirement for divers harvesting lionfish using certain gear and exclude lionfish from the commercial and recreational bag limits, allowing people to take as many of the invasive fish as they can.
Prior to the change, recreational anglers could not catch more than 100 pounds of lionfish without being required to have a commercial license.
Specific gear that can be used to target lionfish without the requirement of a recreational license includes hand-held nets, pole spears, Hawaiian slings or any other spearing devices designed and marketed exclusively for lionfish.
An identical executive order was put into place in August 2012 and is set to expire Aug. 3. The newly adopted rule will take effect before the executive order expires, so there will be no lapse in the expanded permissions.
Lionfish are a nonnative, invasive species that negatively impact Florida’s native saltwater fish and wildlife. Currently, the most effective method of removing lionfish from Florida waters is by spearing or using a hand-held net. Removing the license requirements and bag limits will increase lionfish harvest opportunities.
For more on the pr­oposal presented to Commissioners, visit MyFWC.com/Commission and click on “Commission Meetings.”
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Good news!. Now they just need to get the word out to their officers on the water. Twice in the last year we've had to show the original executive order after being stopped. And then it turned into an argument that the out of state visitors weren't allowed to have polespears on the water without a fishing license($$). It will be interesting to see how the final rule reads and divers better make a copy and put it on their cell phones. Progress comes in very small steps and this new rule is another one.
 
Good news!. Now they just need to get the word out to their officers on the water. Twice in the last year we've had to show the original executive order after being stopped. And then it turned into an argument that the out of state visitors weren't allowed to have polespears on the water without a fishing license($$). It will be interesting to see how the final rule reads and divers better make a copy and put it on their cell phones. Progress comes in very small steps and this new rule is another one.

Hate to say this, but it's common for anything regarding laws. We actually had a FWC officer up in MA tell us the official abstracts were wrong and he was 100% right. So be glad they were willing to listen to the change, if you had to deal with the FWC officer I was talking about you would have been arrested and such.
 
Now if they would write a law that specifically allowed the use of rebreathers to harvest lionfish, then I could do my part too.
 
Lobby them for it. They seem to listen to reason.

They were terribly slow to respond to the lionfish invasion, but it is good to see them making the right decisions now. The deepwater areas are a HUGE reservoir of lionfish. It would be wise to allow RB divers access to them..
 
Dr Dive sez:
Good news. While the prior rule was not, in practice, restrictive, 100 lbs is a lot of Lionfish and commercial harvest isn't common. That said, it is an indication of an increased willingness by government agencies to consider citizen input, look at 'big picture' needs, and loosening/modifying regulations for positive result. It also opens the issue to an unrestricted status, removing most concerns over enforcement. Let's go get some Lionfish. It's what's for dinner.
Capt. Jim
 
Glad to see Florida has wiser rules makers than here in California. I'm having to jump through a lot of hoops to get a permit to try to control a highly invasive Asian seaweed in a marine protected area that is supposed to protect our native species.
 
it's possible the lionfish were partly responsible for the lower stone crab numbers this year.. not sure how probable, just possible since they will eat just about anything.

i saw that they were meeting about making it permanent -- glad they did...

Dr Bill -- hope you get the permit! is there a way to raise local awareness more among the fisherman and divers (if you haven't already) so they will contact who you need to - to help?
 
Good news!
 
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