Florida Administrative Code › 68 - FISH AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION COMMISSION › 68B - Marine Fisheries › Chapter 68B-45 - BLUE CRAB › Section 68B-45.002 - Definitions

Current through Reg. 50, No. 138; July 16, 2024
As used in this rule chapter:
(1) "Blue crab" means any crustacean of the
				species
Callinectes sapidus
, or any part thereof.
(2) "Bycatch reduction device" or "BRD" means
				a rigid rectangular device or implement that forms the perimeter of the opening
				of a throat or entrance to a trap used to harvest blue crabs or peeler crabs
				and is intended to minimize bycatch of diamondback terrapins by limiting the
				size of the opening.
(3) "Drop net"
				means a small, usually circular, net with weights attached along the outer edge
				and a single float in the center.
(4) "Eggbearing blue crab" means a female
				blue crab whose eggs are extruded and deposited on the swimmerettes.
(5) "Escape ring" means a rigid ring forming
				the boundary of an opening placed flush with the vertical surface of the wire
				mesh wall of the crab trap.
(6)
				"Fold up trap" means a plastic or wire meshed collapsing trap that opens
				outward to occupy a single plane when placed on the water bottom. It is baited
				in the center of the base panel and encloses crabs when retrieved by means of a
				cord drawing together the side panels.
(7) "Gulf Seasonal Closure Region" means all
				state waters of the Gulf of Mexico seaward of three nautical miles from
				shore.
(8) "Hard shell crab" means
				any blue crab in intermolt condition that has a shell that is rigid and
				inflexible.
(9) "Mesh size" means
				the size of the opening or space within a polygon formed by the wire of a crab
				trap, to be measured at the largest dimension across such opening or space in
				an undistorted condition.
(10)
				"Harvest" means the catching or taking of a blue crab by any means whatsoever,
				followed by a reduction of such blue crab to possession. Blue crabs caught but
				immediately returned to the water free, alive, and unharmed are not harvested.
				Temporary possession of a blue crab for the purpose of measuring it to
				determine compliance with the size requirements of this chapter shall not
				constitute the harvesting of such blue crab, provided that it is measured on
				the water immediately after taking, and immediately returned to the water free,
				alive, and unharmed if undersized.
(11) "Harvest for commercial purposes" means
				the taking or harvesting of blue crab for purposes of sale or with intent to
				sell or in excess of the bag limit.
(12) "Immediate family" refers to a license
				holder's mother, father, sister, brother, spouse, son, daughter, step-father,
				step-mother, step-son, step-daughter, half-sister, half-brother, son-in-law or
				daughter-in-law.
(13) "Offshore"
				means all state waters seaward of the COLREGS Demarcation Line.
(14) "Peeler crab" means a hard blue crab in
				pre-molt condition having a new soft shell developed under the hard shell and
				having a definite white, pink, or red line or rim on the outer edge of the back
				fin or flipper, and retained specifically for soft crab shedding operations and
				marketed only after molting and prior to the hardening of the new
				shell.
(15) "Push scrape" means a
				mesh net or bag attached to the outer edges of a triangular or rectangular
				rigid frame with a handle attached that is fished by being pushed across the
				bottom by a person wading.
(16)
				"Soft shell crab" means any blue crab that has recently molted and has a shell
				that is tender and flexible.
(17)
				"Trotline" means a submerged line with bait at repetitive intervals.
(18) "Untreated pine" means raw pine wood
				that has not been treated with any preservative or pine wood that has been
				pressure treated with no more than 0.40 pounds of chromated copper arsenate
				(CCA) compounds per cubic foot of wood.
Rulemaking Authority Art. IV, Sec. 9, Fla. Const. Law
					 Implemented Art. IV, Sec. 9, Fla.
					 Const.
New 12-14-93, Amended 6-1-94, 10-4-95, Formerly 46-45.002,
					 Amended 7-1-03, 7-15-04, 5-26-05, 10-15-07,
					 3-1-22.