Redfish Catch, Hold and Release Tournament Exemption Permit

Redfish Tournament Culling Permits

To be eligible for a culling permit, tournaments must involve 50 or more participants, have written rules and regulations, require an entry fee and award prizes to competitors.

Tournament exemption permits will only be issued to catch-and-release redfish tournaments that agree to the following permit conditions:

Tournament anglers and tournament staff must attempt to release alive all redfish that are caught, including those fish that are weighed in;
Each 2-person team of tournament anglers may possess no more than 2 live redfish in the boat's livewell or recirculating tank at any one time;
All boats used in the tournament must contain recirculating or aerated livewells that are at least 2.4 cubic feet or 18 gallons in capacity;
Dead redfish possessed by a 2-person team of tournament anglers may not be discarded. A dead redfish is considered harvested and will count as the daily bag limit for the team of tournament anglers who harvested that fish.
Redfish must be maintained in an aerated recovery holding tank prior to release. Recovery holding tank requirements may be specified in the tournament exemption permit at the FWC's discretion to increase survival of released redfish;
The tournament must provide the FWC with a description of the aerated recovery holding tank(s) used to maintain redfish alive after weigh-in.
The tournament must provide the FWC with a description of the location where tournament-caught redfish will be released after weigh-in. To increase survival of released redfish, release locations may be specified in the tournament exemption permit at the FWC's discretion;
The tournament must agree to allow FWC staff the opportunity to collect research data and conduct research and onboard-monitoring during the tournament, as needed; and
The tournament must submit a post-tournament report to the FWC indicating the number of fish weighed in each day of the tournament, the number of fish weighed in dead each day, and the number of fish that died after being weighed in, but prior to release each day. The FWC may specify additional tournament reporting requirements as a condition of the tournament exemption permit.

Please review the following documents:

How to apply

Tournament Directors: Please complete and submit an application form, along with current tournament rules and regulations to:

FWC Division of Marine Fisheries Management
620 S. Meridian Street, MB 4B3
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1600

Application form (101KB)

Questions, comments?

Contact SAL@MyFWC.com or 850-487-0554.