2019 may be remembered as the “Year for Spotted Seatrout Regulations”. Alabama and Mississippi have implemented stricter regulations, and Florida and Louisiana are considering changes after both states latest assessment results fell below their conservation targets.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission will hear from FWC staff and biologists at their October 1st meeting in Cape Canaveral on public feedback of draft proposals the agency made public in Spring. There may also be changes in those proposals presented at the meeting.
Florida’s spotted seatrout (speckled trout) are managed regionally across four zones.
Of interest to the FFI Gulf Coast Council are proposed changes for the “Northwest Zone” of Florida coastal waters. The Northwest zone currently ranges from the Alabama border east and south to just north of Tampa Bay. One of the proposed changes calls for splitting this zone into “Western Panhandle” and “Big Bend”.
The new Western Panhandle zone would go east to the Gulf-Franklin County line. Two GCC clubs are in this zone – the Fly Fishers of Northwest Florida and the Panhandle Fly Fishers.
Current regulations for this zone are 5 fish per day, with a slot limit of 15-20 inches, one over 20 inches allowed. Annual landings in the Northwest Zone over the last three years have averaged around 1.4 million pounds.
The proposed regulations for the Western Panhandle Zone would be 3 fish per day. The slot limit would be changed to 15-19 inches, with no harvest above the slot. In addition, the regulations would re-establish a February closure that was implemented to protect cold harboring fish.
Florida is different from most Gulf states like Louisiana and Mississippi in that they manage for “Optimum Sustainable Yield”. Their target for Spawning Potential Ratio – the ratio of mature fish in current population compared to an unfished population – is 35 percent. By comparison, Louisiana and Mississippi manage for “Maximum Sustainable Yield” with a management target around 20 percent. The biological threshold – also known as the conservation standard – is between 14 and 16 percent.
One reason why the management target is so high is because extraordinary environmental incidents are not factored into the “unfished population” determination. Therefore making such things as red tide kills no different than if there had been a huge spike in fishing.
