April 3, 2026 — Florida’s spiny lobster season closed April 1 across both state and federal waters, bringing a halt to commercial and recreational harvests as the fishery enters its annual spring shutdown.
The closure, set by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, applies fleetwide and marks the start of a four-month pause during the species’ peak spawning period.
March 31, 2026 — Florida’s recreational and commercial spiny lobster harvest seasons in both state and federal waters will close April 1, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The season will reopen Aug. 6, while the annual two-day recreational sport season is scheduled for July 29 and 30, which falls on the last Wednesday and Thursday of July this year.
The special sport season allows both residents and visitors to harvest spiny lobster before the regular season begins, but state wildlife officials remind boaters and divers that bag limits and restrictions vary depending on where they are harvesting.
The daily bag limit is six lobsters per person in Monroe County and Biscayne National Park. In the rest of Florida, the daily limit is 12 lobsters per person.
On the water, possession limits match the daily bag limit. Off the water, the possession limit is equal to the daily bag limit on July 29 and doubles on July 30.
November 11, 2025 — Florida has formally asked federal officials for the authority to manage red snapper in the Atlantic Ocean, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Monday.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission submitted an “Exempted Fishing Permit” to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick seeking to allow the state to assume management of recreational red snapper in state and federal waters off Florida’s eastern coast starting in 2026.
“We know that we can do this effectively, and we know that this is something that could make a big difference for our recreational anglers, particularly in Northeast Florida,” DeSantis said Monday during an event at Amelia Island Marina in Fernandina Beach.
June 14, 2022 — Florida spiny lobster season is about two months away, but the draw of the tasty crustaceans was simply too hard to resist for two men who were arrested in separate state fish and wildlife police busts over the weekend in the Keys, according to reports.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers were watching one of the men, Rafael Larduet Carrion, as the 43-year-old snorkeled just off shore from Duck Key on Saturday. The eight-month recreational and commercial spiny lobster season doesn’t start until Aug. 6, but FWC investigators say they saw Carrion catching them in addition to separating the tails from the carapace in the water — which is illegal.
All harvested lobsters must be brought to shore whole, per Florida law.
Read the full story at the Miami Herald
August 30, 2021 — On any given day, aquarist Sara Stevens whips up a slurry of plankton, amino acids and other powdered nutrients to feed a voracious group of rescued corals. Using a turkey baster, she blasts the cloudy concoction over each colony made up of thousands of individual organisms called polyps, watching as their tiny tentacles slowly extend and envelop the meal. For the especially carnivorous ones housed at the Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster, Colo., she hand-feeds them full-bodied krill.
This ritual is just one part of the painstaking care Stevens and other aquarists across the country have been giving to a group of corals rescued from disease-ridden waters in Florida. Their future depends on it.
Since 2014, a mysterious illness known as stony coral tissue loss disease has plagued Florida’s reef tract, killing off nearly half the state’s hard corals, whose rigid limestone skeletons provide the architectural backbone of the largest bank reef in the continental United States. By 2018, it became clear that without drastic intervention, these corals would face imminent localized extinction.
“We couldn’t sit back and watch these corals disappear,” said Stephanie Schopmeyer, a coral ecologist from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
To save them, scientists devised a plan to remove the most vulnerable species from their natural habitat and create a land-based gene bank that would serve as a modern day ark for the animals. They knew that to succeed, time was of the essence and collaboration was key. What followed was an unprecedented effort, in which dozens of federal and state organizations, universities, zoos and aquariums joined forces to rescue thousands of Florida’s endangered corals.
July 16, 2021 — With no end in sight for the Red Tide algal blooms currently plaguing the Tampa Bay area, questions have surfaced concerning the safety of the region’s locally sourced seafood. We spoke with several food safety and marine biology experts about what consumers should know before dining out and how best to avoid fish and seafood that may be contaminated.
Is it safe to eat local seafood during Red Tide?
The short answer is yes. Most of the local seafood sold at markets and restaurants in the Tampa Bay area is fished offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, and the industry is heavily regulated and monitored for safety. Florida grouper and snapper are all fished in areas far offshore nowhere near the coastal algal blooms plaguing the region, said Dr. Steve Murawski, a professor of fishery biology at the University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science.
“Generally, the major seafood components are offshore,” Murawski said. “This particular Red Tide is really restricted to the very near-shore area from north of Port Charlotte up to Pasco County, and in terms of sourcing traditional grouper, snapper, scallops … they wouldn’t be affected by this.”
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, storebought seafood and seafood served at local restaurants can be considered safe to eat because it’s been monitored and tested prior to distribution.
July 12, 2021 — Scallop season in Citrus County runs through Sept. 24 and is a draw for tourists and locals alike.
Because this activity is so popular, boats in local rivers and scallop harvest grounds can number in the thousands during weekends.
“Public safety remains paramount during these times and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) officers take on this responsibility as well responding to other situations in the area,” FWC area supervisor Capt. Rama Shuster said.
To assist during this busy time, additional FWC officers from outside the local area will be added to patrols. The Citrus County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Coast Guard will also provide support.
June 28, 2021 — Federal researchers are back in the waters near Southwest Florida to tag and study endangered smalltooth sawfish.
Scientist Andrea Kroetz, with the Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies, and Research Biologist John Carlson, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, returned to the Everglades and 10,000 Islands area to monitor the population and habitat use of juvenile smalltooth sawfish.
Carlson said the research is two-fold. Since sawfish are listed under the Endangered Species act, the team has been monitoring the population since 2008 to get an idea if the species is recovering.
“The other aspect is habitat use,” Carlson said. “We’re trying to gather more information to better define what features sawfish use when they’re juveniles.”
Smalltooth sawfish can grow up to 17 feet long and were historically common off Florida’s coastline, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s website says. Populations declined, however, because of overfishing.
May 11, 2021 — On Friday, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., sent a letter to Benjamin Friedman, the deputy undersecretary for operations for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), urging the agency to work directly with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to provide any federal assistance needed in its investigation into allegations of tiger shark abuse in Citrus County.
The letter is below.
Dear Mr. Friedman:
This week, shocking images emerged showing boaters capturing and allegedly abusing a young tiger shark in Citrus County, Florida. These images are abhorrent and do not reflect the overwhelming respect and appreciation that Floridians have for our natural habitats and the species that call them home.
During my time as governor of Florida, and now U.S. senator, I have worked directly with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to protect our environment, properly manage our natural resources, and hold bad actors accountable. I understand that FWC is actively investigating the shocking photos from this incident and while that agency is certainly the proper investigative authority, I write today to encourage you to work collaboratively with FWC in any way possible to ensure those deliberately mistreating our wildlife are held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. This is an important opportunity to build on state and federal partnerships and I ask that you make sure your agency stands fully prepared to offer any assistance requested.
February 8, 2021 — In the first 24 hours after a 30-foot recreational crab boat was found empty and stuck on the pillars of the Buckman Bridge, personnel in the water and from the air searched more than 72 square miles of the St. Johns River looking for the missing boater. That area is roughly the same size as Washington, D.C.
Shortly before 8 p.m., the U.S. Coast Guard said that it suspended its search for the missing man.
The Coast Guard, Jacksonville Fire and Rescue and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission joined local responders in the search shortly after an off-duty police officer reported seeing a boat spinning aimlessly in a circle in the St. Johns River just before 8 a.m. Thursday. Minutes later, it crashed into the bridge.
FWC, the lead agency, identified the missing man as 20-year-old Michael Vaughn III, of St. Augustine, who was out crab fishing by himself. Local fishermen, who said they know Vaughn, pray that he’s found. One of them told News4Jax he believes the younger Vaughn was out on the water alone around 6 a.m. Thursday.