A New Catch To catch to ‘catch and release’

“The educational process in this has been poor,”

Gulf anglers have exactly one month to gear up for catching reef fish – snappers, groupers, amberjacks, triggerfish, porgies, sea bass, hogfish and tilefish.

New state and federal rules require anglers who catch those species to do so with non-stainless steel circle hooks, and to have a dehooking tool and a venting device on board. The rules don’t apply to anglers fishing from shore, but they apply to all boaters fishing for any of the designated reef fishes.

“It’s not illegal to catch a fish if you don’t meet those requirements,” said Lee Schlesinger, spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
But Schlesinger said fish caught outside the letter of the law must be released alive and unharmed – the guiding principle behind the new rules.

If, for instance, an angler caught a legal-size mangrove snapper in the mouth of the Caloosahatchee River while fishing for snook, but it was caught on a traditional J-shaped hook, it would have to be released. Likewise, if the angler did not have a dehooking device or a venting tool in the boat, that too would be a violation if the fish were not released.
Both the federal rule, originally crafted within the context of new red snapper regulations by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, and the corresponding state rule go into effect June 1.

“I think it’s unfortunate that the state and the feds couldn’t have synchronized their rules a little better,” said Capt. Ralph Allen, who will make a presentation at a seminar introducing the new rules on Tuesday, May 13, in Port Charlotte. No seminars are scheduled in Lee County.

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