Can I go shrimping in Florida?

The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's limit is 5 gallons of shrimp, heads on, per person, and no more than 5 gallons on a boat at any time however many people are aboard. In the Big Bend the limit is 2 gallons a person and 5 gallons a boat.

You may use a cast net no more than 14 feet stretched; a dip or landing net with an opening no more than 96 inches around; a push net, pushed or dragged by a person wading; up to four shrimp traps, each no bigger than 36 by 24 by 12 inches and marked with your name and address; or a frame net set from a structure, but not from an operational bridge. A frame net may not be dragged like a trawl, and frame nets may not be used for shrimp anywhere in Miami-Dade County's waters. No more than two nets may be fished from one boat at a time. Pink and brown shrimp, the commission's researchers say, burrow in the bottom during the day and come out to feed at night.

The Southeast and Southwest are open all year. In the Northeast, the inside waters of Nassau, Duval, St. Johns, Putnam, Flagler and Clay counties are closed from April 1 through May 31, and the tributaries of some waters there, among them the St. Marys, Nassau and Amelia rivers, are closed. In the Panhandle, part of Apalachicola Bay is closed from March 1 through May 31 and from September 15 through December 31; all of Apalachicola Bay and St. Vincent Sound are closed from sunrise to sunset from July 15 through September 14; and several other waters are closed. In the Big Bend's closed area only cast nets and dip nets may be used. For the rules where you are, the commission says to ask its nearest law enforcement office.

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