April 27, 2010
Contact: Lee Schlesinger, 850-487-0554

The recreational and commercial harvest of shallow-water groupers (including gag, black grouper, red grouper, scamp, red hind, rock hind, coney, graysby, yellowfin grouper, yellowmouth grouper and tiger grouper) will reopen on May 1 in all Atlantic Ocean and Monroe County waters.  The harvest of these groupers has been closed since Jan. 1 to address overfishing of grouper in the Atlantic.

A 3-fish-per-person aggregate daily recreational bag limit applies for all groupers in Atlantic and Monroe County waters, and the captain and crew of for-hire vessels are not allowed to keep any species in the aggregate grouper bag limit.  Anglers may take no more than 1 gag or black grouper (not both) within the aggregate grouper limit in Atlantic and Monroe County waters, and dehooking tools must be aboard commercial and recreational vessels for use as needed to remove hooks from Atlantic reef fish.

More information on grouper bag and size limits, gear restrictions and fishing seasons, including Gulf of Mexico grouper regulations, is available at MyFWC.com/Rules, click on "Fishing - Saltwater."

Source: http://myfwc.com/NEWSROOM/10/statewide/News_10_X_GrouperOpens2.htm