The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has announced recreational bay scallop season for Gulf County is opening Friday, August 16th and will remain open through September 15th. The region includes waters from the Mexico Beach Canal to the westernmost point of St. Vincent Inland. The FWC says that swimming, boating, fishing and scalloping in the restoration marked areas south of Black’s Island is prohibited.
Scallops can be harvested by hand or with a net. The limits are two (2) gallons of whole bay scallops in the shell or one pint of bay scallop meat per person, with a max of ten gallons of whole bay scallops in the shell or a half gallon bay scallop meat per vessel. Continuous transit of scallops is allowed through closed areas as long as the boat does not stop in areas closed to harvest.
Recreational harvesters need a Florida saltwater fishing license to harvest bay scallops unless they are 1. except from needing a license or 2. have a no-cost shoreline fishing license and are wading from shore to collect scallops(ex. feet do not leave bottom), and harvesters do not use a vessel to reach or return from the harvest location.
For more information be sure to check out the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation commission website by clicking on this link http://myfwc.com
