New regulations for snook in Florida waters and adjacent federal waters will go into effect beginning Jan. 1, 2024, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said.
These regulation changes will:
Recommended Videos
- Establish nine snook management regions
- Establish closed seasons as well as bag and slot limits for each management region, which are detailed below
The FWC said the seasons, bag limits and slot limits for Florida’s most popular inshore fisheries are set in response to evaluations of the snook fishery within each of the new management regions.
This new management approach includes annual reviews of the fishery, and snook regulations could be changed each year in response to the reviews.
Panhandle, Big Bend, Tampa Bay, Sarasota Bay: Closed season: Dec. 1 to end of February and May 1 to Aug. 31. Bag limit: one fish. Slot limit: 28–33 inches.
Charlotte Harbor, Southwest: Closed season: Dec. 1 to end of February and May 1 to Sept. 30. Bag limit: one fish. Slot limit: 28–33 inches.
Southeast, Indian River Lagoon, Northeast: Closed season: Dec. 15 to Jan. 31 and June 1 to Aug. 31. Bag limit: one fish. Slot limit: 28–32 inches.
For current recreational snook regulations, along with information about the new management approach, visit MyFWC.com/Marine and click on “Recreational Regulations” and “Snook.” This page includes the snook annual reviews that provide summaries of key findings from the annual evaluation of management metrics for each region.