Fritz (or anyone else): Do you have your saltwater fishing license? Just curious because I'm about to be in the same situation as a non-hunter but lionfish eradicator, and don't want to have to get the annual license. I know this has been talked about before with the consensus that you should just get the license, but I'm wondering if there's anyone else like me who's tempted to risk it.
Foldspear FAIL
- Thread starter FritzCat66
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BHB ScubaTroll
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Home Depot, or Lowe's - sticky-back Velcro strips could solve the 'flimsy" problem
BHB ScubaTroll
Contributor
I bought this one from ForceE $18.95. Show a record of ten Lionfish kills with it and they will give you store credit for the amount you paid for the spear. Total length is approx 4'
I have a small bungee at the bottom of my back plate where the spear handle will slide in easily with one hand and a velcro strap (like those which hold the wiring down on a UW camera housing) on the belt of my harness. It stays to my side and isn't invasive on the dive, but it is easy to deploy and re-store after deployment
I have a small bungee at the bottom of my back plate where the spear handle will slide in easily with one hand and a velcro strap (like those which hold the wiring down on a UW camera housing) on the belt of my harness. It stays to my side and isn't invasive on the dive, but it is easy to deploy and re-store after deployment
The license is cheap insurance against getting a ticket. Spend the $17 for heaven's sake.
trigfunctions
Contributor
Can I ask the name of this shop? I need a zipper repaired on a piece of luggage and I live very close to that area. Thanks!
Lauderdale Luggage Repair
2549 E Sunrise Blvd.
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304
954-568-9224
They also do business as Freeman's Luggage & Gifts. They've been in business since I was a kid (that's a VERY long time).
Johnoly
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I’ll try to lay this out the best I can. In the end it would be really nice to have the FWC provide a clear statement on Lionfish. There at 3 components to the issue that have to be addressed and met in order for a diver to be legal and dispatch a lionfish without having a valid saltwater fishing license. In the end, if you are stopped by an FWC officer, you will need to speak and reference actual statues and not some internet forum opinion by me. In the past, the FWC has not allowed the definition of ‘possession’ to be finally determined by the courts, and instead it is left as judgment issue by the officers in the field.
The 3 components are Gear, Restricted Species, and Possession/Harvest.
1) Gear- Under section 68B-14.005 ( c ) spearing is an allowable gear type to harvest fish. This means that a spear is a allowable gear under the law.
2) Restricted Species - Under section 68B-14.001 (2) Lionfish is not on the legal list of ‘restricted species’. This means that there is no size, quantity, or dates restricted. Lionfish can be killed at any time, any size, and any number.
3) Possession/Harvest
This is the section that is open to interpretation by field officers. Here is my opinion:
68B-47.001 Definitions.
As stated in this chapter:
(1) “Harvest” means the catching or taking of a fish by any means whatsoever, followed by a reduction of such fish to possession.
The key and most important word is possession. This term is not clearly defined by the Statues. If you spear a lionfish and leave it in the ocean, you have met the requirement for reduction, but you have not met the threshold of “to possession” by leaving it in the ocean where you shot it.
In my opinion, if you do not bring the lionfish up to the boat, but instead leave it for the crabs and other fish to consume, you have not taken possession of the fish and therefore you do not need a license to spear them underwater.
This question really needs to be put to FWC since it is a license question. I have taken the above information and submitted it to FWC for a legal opinion. If I get it in writing, I’ll post it back on here so that other’s can print it out to bring on the boat incase they are stopped.
It would have been really nice if the FWC would have addressed and clarified this issue when they changed the rules and allowed hunting lionfish by permit inside the Key’s sanctuary boundaries, but they did not.
OP
Great info, John! Like Deb said earlier, tho, it's probably wise to just shell out the $17 for a license. Lots of places sell them, or you can get one online through the FWC website.
Just think of it as "hassle insurance".
Just think of it as "hassle insurance".
And let's not forget. This is straight off the FWC website:
What are my fees used for? Except for the fees charged by the tax collector ($1.00) or agent ($0.50), and processing surcharges listed above, all of the money spent on fishing and licenses goes to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to provide optimum sustained use of Florida's fish and wildlife resources. In addition, each license holder that buys a license, helps the FWC to recover excise taxes from the Federal government, which you spend on items such as fishing tackle, boats, and for motor boat fuel taxes, through the Federal Aid in Sportfish Restoration program.
It's not like the money is being used to pay for the governor's tanning booth sessions.
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