The requirements in this rule shall apply in the Southwest
Region, which shall include the state waters of Collier, Lee, Charlotte,
Sarasota, Manatee, Hillsborough, and Pinellas Counties.
(1) In Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, and
Collier Counties, a two net seine, consisting of a main net and unattached
wing, may be possessed and fished if the following operational requirements and
specifications are met:
(a) Neither seine
shall have a mesh area exceeding 500 square feet, and the two seines shall not
be connected.
(b) One end of the
main net shall be anchored on the shore.
(c) During the period beginning one hour
after official sunset and ending one hour before official sunrise, a boat with
a white light visible 3600 from a distance of not less than one mile shall be
anchored at the most seaward point of the seine.
(d) The seine shall not be soaked for more
than 12 hours, beginning when the first mesh is placed in the water and ending
when the first mesh is retrieved on shore. Once the first mesh is retrieved on
shore, the net retrieval and fish clearing operation shall be continuous until
all parts of the net are completely removed from the water.
(e) The tending requirements of subsection
68B-4.008(1),
F.A.C., shall be observed.
(f) The
seine allowed by this subsection shall not be fished in the inside waters of
the counties to which this subsection applies. This shall not be construed to
prohibit the anchoring of the main net on shore, when the remainder of the main
net and the wing are fished outside the Colregs Demarcation
Line.
(2) During the
period beginning on November 1 of each year and continuing through January 31
of the following year, no person shall fish with, set, or place any beach or
haul seine in the waters of the region described in this subsection to harvest
or attempt to harvest any marine fish.
(a) All
the waters of the Gordon River in Collier County and its tributaries north of
US 41.
(b) All the waters of the
Imperial River in Lee County and its tributaries, including those connecting
the Imperial River with Big Hickory Bay, upstream of a line immediately east of
the intersection of channels connecting the river with Fish Trap Bay and Little
Hickory Bay, which line runs between a point located at 26°20.150'N,
81°50.300'W on the east side of the river to a point located at
26°20.150'N, 81°50.333'W on the west side of the river.
(c) All of the Estero River in Lee County and
its tributaries, including those connecting the Estero River with Rocky Bay,
upstream of the mouth of the river, which is east of a line that runs between a
point at 26°25.850'N, 81°51.505'W on the north side of the river mouth
to a point at 26°25.835'N, 81°51.486'W on the south side of the river
mouth.
(d) All of Hendry Creek in
Lee County and its tributaries, upstream of the mouth of the river, which is
north of a line that runs between Dixon Point at 26°27.488'N,
81°52.221'W on the west side of the river mouth and the northernmost edge
of the mouth of Mullock Creek at 26°27.694'N, 81°52.097'W on the east
side of the river mouth.
(e) All of
the Myakka River in Charlotte and Sarasota Counties and its tributaries north
and west of State Road 776 at El Jobean.
(f) All of the Alafia River in Hillsborough
County and its tributaries east of US Highway 41 at Gibsonton.
(g) All of Hillsborough River in Hillsborough
County and its tributaries north of the Platt Street Bridge in
Tampa.
(3) J. N. "Ding"
Darling National Wildlife Refuge/Sanibel Conservation Zone - Within the
following described area in proximity to Sanibel Island in Lee County, no
person shall harvest or attempt to harvest any marine species from any vessel
to which is attached or which contains a simultaneously operating internal
combustion engine.
Beginning at the mean high water line at a point due north
from the intersection of Dixie Beach Boulevard and Woodring Road, and
proceeding north (waterward) 300 feet; thence generally westerly at a set
distance of 300 feet offset from the irregular contours of the mangrove
shoreline and continuing 300 feet waterward of the Wulfert Keys to the center
line of Blind Pass; thence southwest to the Gulf of Mexico at a point 300 feet
waterward of the center of Blind Pass; thence southeast to the southeastern
extent of the mouth of Clam Bayou Pass, and including all waterways, bays,
creeks, and bayous landward of the boundary line.
(4) Blind Pass Seasonal Closure to Net
Fishing - Within the following described area, during the period beginning on
November 1 of each year and continuing through January 31 of the following
year, no person shall fish with, set, or place in the water any cast net.
Beginning at the northern side of the mouth of Dinken Bayou
(also known as Jenkins Bayou) on Sanibel Island and proceeding southwesterly to
the south side of the mouth of Roosevelt Channel on Captiva Island; thence
following the shoreline of Captiva Island southwesterly to the conjunction of
Captiva Island with the Colregs Demarcation Line on the northwest side of the
mouth of Blind Pass on the Gulf of Mexico; thence following the Colregs
Demarcation Line to the southeast side of the mouth of Blind Pass on Sanibel
Island; thence northeasterly to the southern side of the mouth of Dinken Bayou;
thence continuously along the interior shoreline of Dinken Bayou to the point
of beginning.
