Florida wildlife officials have created rules to protect the great barracuda in state waters.
Divers and fishermen in South Florida have expressed concern in recent years about declining barracuda populations. Wednesday the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission approved a new rule capping the recreational and commercial catch at two fish per person and six per boat.
Commissioner Liesa Priddy says that might harm commercial operations.
“They’re going from unlimited to six,” Priddy says, “I think that’s too few for a commercial vessel considering the small percentage of total catch that commercial vessels are taking.”
But Commissioner Charles Roberts, who proposed the limit, says the restriction gives them a starting point.
“This gives us something now for the fisherman, both commercial and recreation, to look at and say oh we don’t like it, we do like it, you didn’t go far enough,” Roberts says. “But we made a step today to at least, we think, improve the opportunity for the fishery to rebound.”
Until now, Florida had no barracuda-specific fishing limits—just the statewide ceiling of 100 pounds or two fish, whichever is greater. The commission’s vote was unanimous, but the board members pledged to revisit the issue at their meeting in April.
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