Section 68B-27.014 - Statewide Bag Limits on Oyster Harvesting(1) Commercial Bag Limit. (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b), in all state waters open to oyster harvesting, no person shall harvest or take for commercial purposes more than twenty (20) bags of oysters per person or per vessel, whichever is less, per day.(b) Except as provided in paragraph 68B-27.017(1)(a), F.A.C., beginning October 1 each year and continuing through June 30 of the following year, in Apalachicola Bay, each person who harvests or takes oysters for commercial purposes shall be subject to a bag limit of twenty (20) bags of oysters per day. On any vessel in the bay during this period, a vessel limit equal to twenty (20) bags of oysters times the number of persons aboard the vessel harvesting or taking oysters for commercial purposes shall apply and possession of more than this number of bags of oysters aboard such a vessel in the bay is prohibited. Paragraph (a) shall apply in Apalachicola Bay to all commercial harvesters during the rest of the year.(2) Recreational Bag Limit. In all state waters open to oyster harvesting, no person may harvest for recreational purposes or possess more than two (2) bags of oysters per person or per vessel, whichever is less, per day.(3) No person shall harvest for recreational purposes and harvest for commercial purposes within any one day.(4) When vessels are connected in any way, for example by towing, no person shall claim more than one bag limit for all vessels so connected.(5) Possession of oysters in excess of the applicable bag limit aboard a vessel harvesting oysters in or on the waters above any public oyster bed is prohibited.(6) The bag and vessel limits established in this rule do not apply to the authorized harvest of oysters from submerged lands which have been leased for shellfish culture by the State of Florida.Fla. Admin. Code Ann. R. 68B-27.014
Rulemaking Authority Art. IV, Sec. 9, Fla. Const. Law Implemented Art. IV, Sec. 9, Fla. Const.
New 3-10-91, Amended 11-29-93, 7-15-96, Formerly 46-27.014, Amended 6-1-99, Amended by Florida Register Volume 47, Number 007, January 12, 2021 effective 1/26/2021.New 3-10-91, Amended 11-29-93, 7-15-96, Formerly 46-27.014, Amended 6-1-99, 1-26-21.