Spiny Lobster - Panulirus argus

Spiny Lobster: Panulirus argus

Florida Regulations:

Spiny Lobster Sport Season

Season dates	Bag limit	Possession limit - on the water	Possession limit - off the water	Minimum size limit
July 25-26, 2018 (Last consecutive Wednesday and Thursday of July each year)	6 per person per day for Monroe County and Biscayne National Park 12 per person per day for the rest of Florida	Equal to the daily bag limit	Equal to the daily bag limit on the first day, and double the daily bag limit on the second day	Carapace larger than 3", measured in the water Possession and use of a measuring device is required at all times Find out how to measure spiny lobster

Season dates

Bag limit

Possession limit - on the water

Possession limit - off the water

Minimum size limit

July 25-26, 2018 (Last consecutive Wednesday and Thursday of July each year)

6 per person per day for Monroe County and Biscayne National Park

12 per person per day for the rest of Florida

Equal to the daily bag limit

Equal to the daily bag limit on the first day, and double the daily bag limit on the second day

Carapace larger than 3", measured in the water

Possession and use of a measuring device is required at all times

Find out how to measure spiny lobster

*Possession limits are enforced on and off the water

**Night diving (swimming at or below the surface of the water) is prohibited in Monroe County (only during the sport season)

***Harvest of lobster is prohibited in John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park during the sport season and in Everglades National Park, Dry Tortugas National Park, no-take areas in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and in the Biscayne Bay/Card Sound Lobster Sanctuary during both the 2-day sport season and regular season.

Regular Spiny Lobster Season

Season dates	Bag limit	Possession limit - on the water	Minimum size limit
Aug. 6 - March 31	6 per person per day	Equal to the daily bag limit	Carapace larger than 3", measured in the water Possession and use of a measuring device is required at all times Find out how to measure spiny lobster

Season dates

Bag limit

Possession limit - on the water

Minimum size limit

Aug. 6 - March 31

6 per person per day

Equal to the daily bag limit

Carapace larger than 3", measured in the water

Possession and use of a measuring device is required at all times

Find out how to measure spiny lobster

Florida Keys/Monroe County Information

Call 305-852-7717 or visit http://floridakeys.noaa.gov for information about no take areas in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Please call the FWC Marathon office at 305-289-2320.

Other Prohibitions

Unless exempt, a recreational saltwater fishing license and a lobster permit are required to harvest spiny lobster
Lobster must be landed in whole condition. Separating the tail from the body is prohibited in state waters.
The harvest or possession of eggbearing spiny lobster, or any other eggbearing species of lobster belonging to the families Palinuridae (spiny lobsters), Scyllaridae (slipper lobsters) or Synaxidae (furry lobsters) is prohibited
No person shall harvest or attempt to harvest spiny lobster using any device which will or could puncture, penetrate or crush the exoskeleton (shell) or the flesh of the lobster
Recreational trapping prohibited
Regardless of what species you are fishing for, bag limits are only for properly licensed individuals and those people exempt from license requirements who are actively harvesting. People harvesting may not exceed their individual bag limit and take someone else's bag limit. That is, people (including children) who are not actively harvesting or are not properly licensed (if a license is required) may NOT be counted for purposes of bag limits.