Blue Crab

BLUE CRAB, CH 46-45, F.A.C. (Effective January 1, 1994)

· Designates blue crab as a "restricted species" effective January 1, 1995

· Retains the current minimum size limit of five inches for hard blue crab commercial harvest

· Repeals the 10 percent tolerance for undersized blue crabs

· Allows a bycatch possession limit of 200 pounds of blue crabs per trip on shrimp trawls

· Allows an incidental bycatch of blue crabs not higher than the recreational bag limit with all other nonconforming gear

· Allows roller frame trawls to harvest no more than the recreational bag limit of undersized blue crabs as an incidental bycatch; such blue crabs shall be used as live bait only

· Allows the incidental harvest of blue crabs with legal gear fished in fresh water

· Specifies that the only gear allowed to be used to harvest blue crabs in state waters include legal traps, dip nets, drop nets, fold-up or star traps, hook and line gear, push scrape, and trot line

· Specifies that all traps used to harvest blue crabs have maximum dimensions of 24" X 24" X 24" or 8 cubic feet in volume (beginning January 1, 1995), be constructed of wire with a minimum mesh size of 1½ inches for hard blue crabs (1 inch for peeler crab traps), have the throat(s) located only on a vertical surface, contain at least one unobstructed escape ring with a minimum inside diameter of two inches (except peeler crab traps), and buoys and lines of certain specifications

· Requires all traps used to harvest blue crabs to have a degradable panel, beginning January 1, 1995

· Specifies that all buoys attached to blue crab traps be at least 6 inches in diameter and be made of styrofoam, cork, molded polyvinyl chloride, or molded polystyrene

· Requires commercial harvesters to affix their blue crab endorsement license number to each buoy in legible figures at least two inches high, and to display the buoy color and license number on the boat used to set this gear

· Requires each trap used by recreational blue crab harvesters to be marked with the harvester's name and address and each buoy attached to such trap to be marked with the letter "R"; buoys are not required on traps fished from docks

· Requires peeler crabs to be kept in a separate container from other blue crabs

· Prohibits all harvest and possession of egg-bearing blue crabs

· Establishes a daily recreational bag limit of 10 gallons of blue crabs

· Allows traps used to harvest blue crabs and peeler crabs to be worked during daylight hours only

BLUE CRAB, CH 46-45, F.A.C. (Effective June 1, 1994)

· Requires all blue crab traps to have at least 3 unobstructed escape rings installed, each with a minimum inside diameter of 2 3/8 inches, effective January 1, 1995 (one such escape ring shall be located on a vertical outer surface adjacent to each crab retaining chamber)

· Exempts recreational traps - with a volume of no more than 1 cubic foot fished from a vessel, a dock, or from shore to harvest blue crabs - from general trap specification provisions

· Allows a 5 percent tolerance per container for undersize hard blue crabs

· Allows the harvest of no more than 10 gallons of undersize blue crabs with a dip net per person or vessel, whichever is less, for use and sale as live bait

· Allows legal live bait shrimp harvesters a bycatch of 10 gallons of undersize blue crabs per vessel

BLUE CRAB, CH 46-45, F.A.C. (Effective January 1, 1995)

Establishes degradability requirements for blue crab traps. Such traps are considered to have a legal degradable panel if:

· The trap lid tie-down strap is secured to the trap by a single loop of untreated Jute twine, and the trap lid is secured so that when the jute degrades, the lid will no longer be securely closed, or

· The trap lid tie-down strap is secured to one end with a corrodible hook composed of non-coated steel wire measuring 24 gauge or thinner, and the trap lid is secured so that when the hook degrades, the lid will no longer be securely closed, or

· The trap contains at least one sidewall with a vertical rectangular opening no smaller in either dimension than 6 inches high and 3 inches wide, and the opening is laced, sewn, or otherwise obstructed by a single length of untreated jute twine knotted only at each end and not tied or looped more than once around a single mesh bar; the opening in the sidewall of the trap must no longer be obstructed when the jute degrades, or

· The trap contains at least one sidewall with a vertical rectangular opening no smaller in either dimension than 6 inches high by 3 inches wide, and the opening must be obstructed with an untreated pine slat or slats no thicker than 3/8 inch; the opening in the sidewall of the trap must no longer be obstructed when the slat degrades, or

· The trap contains at least one sidewall with a vertical rectangular opening no smaller in either dimension than 6 inches high by 3 inches wide, and the opening must be laced, sewn, or otherwise obstructed by non-coated steel wire measuring 24 gauge or thinner or be obstructed with a panel of ferrous single-dipped galvanized wire mesh made of 24 gauge or thinner wire

BLUE CRAB, CH 46-45, F.A.C. (Effective October 4, 1995)

· Allows baiting of blue crab peeler traps with live male blue crabs only

· Requires all blue crab traps with 1½” mesh to have escape rings

BLUE CRAB - TRAP VESSEL MARKING, CH 46-45, F.A.C. (Effective September 30, 1996)

Requires the color and trap number of marking buoys to be permanently and conspicuously displayed on vessels so that they are:

· Readily identifiable from the air, with the approved buoy design displayed and affixed to the uppermost structural portion of the vessel and displayed horizontally with the painted design up (for vessels with an open design, such as skiffs from which blue crab traps are fished, one seat instead shall be painted with buoy assigned colors with permit numbers, unobstructed and no smaller than 10 inches high, painted thereon in contrasting color); otherwise, the display is required to exhibit the harvester's approved buoy design, unobstructed, on a circle 20 inches in diameter, outlined in contrasting color, together with the permit numbers affixed beneath the circle in numerals no smaller than 10 inches high

· Readily identifiable from the water, with the approved buoy design displayed and affixed vertically to both the starboard and port sides of the vessel near amidship; the display is required to exhibit the harvester's approved buoy design, unobstructed, on a circle 8 inches in diameter, outlined in contrasting color, together with the permit numbers affixed beneath the circle in numerals no smaller than 4 inches high

BLUE CRAB - TRAP VESSEL MARKING, CH 46-45, F.A.C. (Effective January 1, 1998)

· Prohibits the harvest of blue crabs with a trap in federal waters adjacent to Florida

· Requires that each throat (entrance) in all blue crab traps be horizontally oriented; the width of the opening where the throat meets the vertical wall of the trap and the opening of the throat at its farthest point from the vertical wall, inside the trap, shall be greater than the height of any such opening; no such throat shall extend farther than 6 inches into the inside of any trap, measured from where the throat opening meets the vertical wall of the trap to the throat opening at its farthest point from the vertical wall, inside the trap

· Provides that trap marking buoys be either spherical in shape with a diameter no smaller than 6 inches, or some other shape provided that it is no shorter than 10 inches in the longest dimension and the width at some point exceeds 5 inches

· Requires persons who commercially harvest blue crabs with traps to possess a saltwater products license with both a blue crab and restricted species endorsement

BLUE CRAB - TRAP SPECIFICATIONS, CH 46-45, F.A.C. (Effective June 1, 1999)

· Allows the use on blue crab traps of trap lid tie-down straps secured at one end by a loop composed of non-coated steel wire measuring 24 gauge or thinner, 2 X 3/8 inch non-treated pine dowels or squares to replace the hook on tie-down straps, a 3 X 6 inch panel attached to the trap opening with 24 gauge or less wire or single strand jute

· Prohibits the use of a 24 gauge hook or tie-down strap on blue crab traps

· Requires each commercial blue crab trap fished in Florida waters to be permanently marked with the harvester’s blue crab trap endorsement number

· Deletes rule language that requires 1-inch identification numbers on blue crab trap buoys

BLUE CRAB - TRAP SPECIFICATIONS, CH 46-45, F.A.C. (Effective February 28, 2002)

Extends the moratorium on the issuance of new blue crab endorsements through June 30, 2005.

BLUE CRAB, CH 46-45, F.A.C. (Effective July 1, 2003)

Prohibits blue crab traps in the area north of the Suwannee River and beyond 3 miles seaward from September 20 through October 4.

BLUE CRAB, CH 46-45, F.A.C. (Effective July 15, 2004)

Extends the September 20 through October 4 blue crab closure to all Gulf of Mexico state waters between three and nine miles from shore.

BLUE CRAB, CH 46-45, F.A.C. (Effective October 21, 2004)

· Extends the blue crab endorsement moratorium to July 1, 2006

· Allows male blue crabs used as bait to attract female blue crabs into peeler traps to be fed with a single bait fish

· Permits a vertical or horizontal orientation of degradable panels and the use of 16 gauge degradable staples in blue crab traps

BLUE CRAB, CH 68B-45, F.A.C. (Effective May 26, 2005)

· Establishes a hard crab endorsement and a soft crab endorsement, which can be associated with either an individual or vessel Saltwater Products License

· Establishes endorsement qualifying and re-qualifying criteria

· Requires trap tags and establishes tag ordering criteria and a replacement tag program

· Establishes an appeals board and criteria by which non-qualifying blue crab fishers could be allocated traps

· Establishes the Blue Crab Advisory Board by rule, and sets criteria for appointment to the board

· Prohibits the leasing or renting of endorsements, tags, or traps

· Establishes endorsement holder responsibilities

BLUE CRAB, CH 68B-45, F.A.C. (Effective February 1, 2006)

· Establishes a nontransferable blue crab limited-entry endorsement for certain net fishermen who have a valid blue crab endorsement but no qualified landings to use up to 100 traps to harvest and sell hard shell blue crabs

· Establishes an incidental take endorsement to allow a daily bycatch of 200 pounds of blue crabs per vessel from shrimp trawls and stone crab traps

· Allows a blue crab harvester to obtain permission from the FWC’s Division of Law Enforcement to let another person transport, deploy, pull or retrieve the harvester’s traps on a short-term basis for hardship reasons

Blue Crab, CH 68BER06-1, F.A.C.(Effective July 1 - September 28, 2006)

· Extends the moratorium on blue crab endorsements and delays the start of the blue crab effort management program until July 1, 2007.