News from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

News from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

FWC extends the permit spawning season closure inside the Special Permit Zone  At its February meeting in Tallahassee, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) approved a measure to extend the spawning season closure for permit inside the Special Permit Zone in south Florida. The change, effective April 1, 2018, will add April to the existing May-through-July season closure for the harvest of permit inside the Special Permit Zone, which includes all state and federal waters south of Cape Sable on the Gulf coast, and south of Cape Florida on the Atlantic coast including all of the Florida Keys and Biscayne Bay. Recent research confirms spawning-size permit are visiting known south Florida multi-species aggregation sites from April through July. For more information or to view the presentations given at the Commission meeting, visitMyFWC.com/Commission and select “Commission Meetings” then click on the link below “Next Meeting.” For information on permit, visit MyFWC.com/Fishing and click on “Saltwater Fishing,” “Recreational Regulations” and “Permit, Florida pompano, African pompano.”