Florida Administrative Code › 68 - FISH AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION COMMISSION › 68A - Freshwater Fish and Wildlife › Chapter 68A-23 - RULES RELATING TO FRESHWATER FISH › Section 68A-23.003 - Commercial Fishing Devices; Provision for Use in Certain Waters

Current through Reg. 50, No. 138; July 16, 2024
(1) Persons licensed under Section
				379.363, F.S., may use certain
				commercial fishing devices only in the manner and in the areas specified in
				this rule, except as specified in subsection
				68A-23.002(10),
				F.A.C. All fishing devices authorized by this section shall be clearly and
				legibly marked with the harvester's name and address while being used or
				possessed in or upon the waters of the state. Any game fish taken by these
				devices shall be immediately returned to the water unharmed.
(2) Wire traps and slat baskets:
(a) Species to be taken - Non-game
				fish.
(b) Location and number of
				traps and baskets.
1. In Trout River east of
				Interstate 95, Broward River, Dunn Creek and in that portion of the St. Johns
				River from the Seaboard Coastline bridge in Duval County upstream to State Road
				46 (Mims Bridge) including Doctors Lake, Crescent Lake, Dunns Creek and Lakes
				Beresford, Woodruff, Dexter, Monroe and Harney, except Lake Jesup, 80 per
				licensee.
a. Wire traps and slat baskets are
				prohibited within 100 feet of the mouths of the following tributaries: Getout
				Creek, Blue Springs Run, Wekiva River, Deep Creek, Alexander Springs Creek,
				Spring Garden Creek, Shell Creek and DeLeon Springs Creek.
b. Wire traps and slat baskets are prohibited
				in the main channel of the St. Johns River from a point immediately south of
				Lake Monroe to State Road 46 (except Lake Harney) from January 1 to March
				31.
c. Wire traps and slat baskets
				are prohibited within 25 yards of vegetation in Crescent Lake except from June
				1 through August 31.
2.
				In the part of the main channel of the St. Marys River downstream from the
				railroad bridge paralleling US Highway 17; wire traps and baskets, 80 per
				licensee.
3. In Lake Okeechobee:
				Regulations pertaining to wire traps fished in Lake Okeechobee are contained in
				Rule 68A-23.012, F.A.C.
4. In Lakes Apopka, West Tohopekaliga,
				Cypress, Hatchineha, and Kissimmee; wire traps and baskets, 40 in the aggregate
				per licensee.
5. In the Santa Fe,
				Suwannee (and its tributary, the Withlacoochee), and Apalachicola rivers,
				except in the section between US Highway 90 and Jim Woodruff Dam; also the
				Apalachicola River tributaries except that portion of the Chipola River
				upstream from Dead Lakes Dam; and in Lake Seminole in Jackson County, 20 slat
				baskets, per licensee. No wire traps permitted.
6. In Lake Istokpoga and Red Beach Lake in
				Highlands County and in Lakes Arbuckle, Crago, Banana, Buffum, Davenport,
				Henry, Gibson, Marion, Reedy, Surveyors, Vann, Effie, Hancock, Hunter, Parker,
				Rosalie, and Tiger in Polk County, 40 wire traps, per licensee.
7. In those other specific areas as
				designated by rule of the Commission.
(c) Specifications.
1. Wiretraps.
a. Maximum length - Seven feet.
b. Maximum width - 32 inches.
c. Mesh - Minimum one inch.
d. Type - Two funnels in one end.
e. Depth - At least three feet of clearance
				between the highest point on the trap and the water
				surface.
2. Slat baskets.
a. Maximum length - Six feet.
b. Maximum diameter - 32 inches.
c. Construction - Of slats with openings of
				at least one and one-half inch in the head or upstream end.
d. Depth - At least three feet of clearance
				between the highest point on the basket and the water surface.
e. Funnel opening - Maximum diameter of
				smallest funnel opening two inches, except under
				pressure.
(d)
				Removal - Traps or baskets not being fished shall be removed from the
				water.