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FWC PROPOSES AMENDMENTS TO BLUE CRAB MANAGEMENT

September 22, 2005
CONTACT: Lee Schlesinger (850) 487-0554

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) today proposed a series of blue crab rule amendments, intended to address requests from commercial fishermen regarding the new blue crab effort management program.

Last April, the FWC approved a rule to control growth and over-capitalization of the commercial blue crab fishery by managing the number of fishers and traps. The rule, recommended by FWC’s Blue Crab Advisory Board, establishes a blue crab limited-entry endorsement program that limits the total number of commercial blue crab fishermen and allows each qualified fisherman to use up to an equal number of traps.

This program includes certain qualifying criteria (based upon reported blue crab landings over a specified period) for fishermen to obtain an endorsement, which allows them to commercially harvest blue crabs.

The program also requires all blue crab traps to be tagged and allows the transfer of endorsements to other persons under specified conditions. Fees to support this program, which begins in the 2006-2007 license year, require approval by the 2006 Florida Legislature.

To address requests received from commercial fishermen, the FWC is proposing additional rule provisions that would allow qualified fishermen affected by the 1995 net limitation amendment, stone crab fishermen, and shrimp fishermen who have harvested blue crabs as bycatch, to obtain a non-transferable Blue Crab Limited Entry Endorsement.

This will allow displaced net fishermen to use up to 100 traps to harvest hard shell blue crabs, and allow shrimpers and stone crabbers a daily bycatch of 200 pounds of blue crabs. The FWC also intends to work with its Blue Crab Advisory Board to consider whether these fishermen should be required to use their endorsements for a specified period of time in order to keep the endorsement.

In addition, blue crab harvesters would be allowed to obtain permission from the FWC Division of Law Enforcement to let another person transport, deploy or retrieve their traps on a short-term basis under certain conditions for reasons of hardship.

A final public hearing on these rule amendment proposals will take place at the FWC’s Nov. 30-Dec. 1 meeting in Key Largo, and the rules would take effect July 1, 2006 if approved.

 

 

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