This section sets handling rules for saltwater recreational finfish and related fish parts, including when heads, tails, skin, or fillets must stay intact and when limited bait-use exceptions apply.
§325.2. Saltwater recreational finfish; total length A. Except as provided elsewhere in this Section, all saltwater recreational finfish shall have the head and caudal fin intact until set or put on shore. All saltwater recreational finfish shall be measured in accordance with applicable law. B. Except as provided elsewhere in this Section, no person shall possess any finfish parts, such as filleted fish, while aboard a vessel on the water. For the purpose of consumption at sea aboard the harvesting vessel, a person shall have no more than two pounds of finfish parts per person on board the vessel, provided that the vessel is equipped to cook such finfish and such finfish does not exceed applicable bag limits. C.(1) The provisions of this Section shall not apply to the following: (a) Any legally harvested saltwater recreational finfish for which there is no size limit, that is being utilized for bait and is not in excess of any daily possession limits. (b) King or Spanish mackerel, if cut up and utilized for bait, so long as the carcass is retained with the head and caudal fin intact while such parts are in possession aboard a fishing vessel, so that size and number of fish possessed may be determined. (2) Swordfish possessed by a recreational fisherman shall not be skinned until set or put on shore. (3) Tuna shall retain the caudal fin intact until set or put on shore, and those species of tuna which have minimum size restrictions may have the head removed as long as the carcass length without the head exceeds the minimum size requirement. (4) Any garfish caught or possessed by a recreational fisherman in the saltwater areas of the state may have the head and caudal fin removed but, until the fish is set or put on shore, it shall retain a strip of skin sufficient to clearly identify the fish. D. Violation of any of the provisions of this Section constitutes a class three violation. Acts 1987, No. 383, §1; Acts 1988, No. 35, §1; Acts 1992, No. 528, §1, eff. June 29, 1992; Acts 1999, No. 700, §1; Acts 2001, No. 150, §1; Acts 2010, No. 293, §1; Acts 2012, No. 469, §1.