FWC approves changes to ballyhoo fishery rules
News Release
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Media contact: Lee Schlesinger, 850-487-0554
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission (FWC) on Thursday approved rule amendments regarding
license requirements for commercial ballyhoo fishermen. These
fishermen harvest ballyhoo with lampara nets and sell the fish to
recreational anglers for use as fishing bait.
Fewer than 20 commercial fishermen in Florida
qualify for an endorsement on their saltwater products license that
allows them to use a lampara net to harvest ballyhoo. The
FWC's action now gives them the option to sell their endorsement to
someone else if they decide to leave the fishery.
The rule amendments allow all ballyhoo endorsement
holders to sell their endorsement to other commercial fishermen
from July 1 - March 31 each year, limit any one entity from holding
more than two ballyhoo endorsements at any one time, prohibit
leasing of the endorsement, and allow only one endorsement per
saltwater products license and one saltwater products license to be
associated with a single endorsement.
These rules take effect on July 1, and the FWC will
continue to review management issues in the commercial ballyhoo
fishery.
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