At its July meeting, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) approved new management regions and regulation changes for redfish in state waters following the final rule hearing. 

These regulation changes, which go into effect Sept. 1, 2022, will:

• Establish nine redfish management regions.
• Prohibit captain and crew from retaining a bag limit of redfish when on a for-hire trip.
• Reduce the off-the-water transport limit from six to four fish per person.
• Reduce the vessel limit in each of the management regions to be:Panhandle, Big Bend, Northeast: four fish.Tampa Bay, Sarasota Bay, Charlotte Harbor, Southwest, Southeast: two fish.
• Allow only catch-and-release fishing for redfish in the Indian River Lagoon region.
• Set the bag limit to one fish in the Panhandle, Big Bend, Tampa Bay, Sarasota Bay, Charlotte Harbor, Southwest, Southeast and Northeast regions.This is a reduction to the bag limit in the Northeast region. 

Read more at content.govdelivery.com/accounts/FLFFWCC/bulletins/320dd2a