FWC REQUIRES MARKING OF BLACK SEA BASS TRAPS

June 16, 2005
CONTACT: Lee Schlesinger (850) 487-0554

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission today approved a rule to specify buoy- and trap-marking requirements for black sea bass traps.

This rule is intended to prevent misidentification and removal of legal black sea bass traps during coastal cleanup events, provide a way to identify lost or stolen gear, assist with enforcement of trap specification requirements and deter the use of illegal gear.

The new rule requires each trap used for harvesting black sea bass to have the trap owner’s Saltwater Products License (SPL) number permanently attached.

Each buoy attached to these traps must have the letter “B” and the owner’s SPL number affixed to it in legible figures at least 1.5 inches high.

A buoy or time-release buoy must be attached to each black sea bass trap or at each end of a weighted trap trotline.

The buoy must be constructed of Styrofoam, cork, molded polyvinyl chloride or molded polystyrene; be of sufficient strength and buoyancy to float; and be either white in color or the same color as the owner’s blue crab or stone crab buoy colors.

These buoys must be spherical in shape with a diameter no smaller than six inches, or some other shape that is no shorter than 10 inches in the longest dimension and the width at some point exceeds five inches.

This rule takes effect in mid- to late-July.

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