Liveaboard and Fishing?

[Bill Seal]

What about fish that have been eaten and are now inside the holding tank?
The trouble with absolute laws is that they never consider "what if"

[SVHarmonie]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

Not that I've ever heard of a liveaboard getting busted for this, but technically Florida fishing regulations pretty much make it illegal to possess fish on board in anything but an intact state minus basic gutting. The FWC regulations just don't address anything but recreational fishing day trips where the fish are returned to land and then filleted or otherwise processed and then stored on land. It is actually illegal to have fish fillets on your boat, even if purchased at a grocery store. I guess this is limited to species found in Fl, but the regulations don't actually say that. Oddly enough if you are on your way back from the Bahamas and actually haven't touched land yet you are OK, as long as you keep a piece of skin on the fillets so the species can be identified. As soon as you touch land however the fillets become illegal to keep on your boat. The feds are in on the act as well, since you must keep many species intact while aboard. Apparently the NMFS is not any better at recognizing that some people actually live on their boats.

All that is true. And I would point out that the enforcing officer would have to be REALLY, REALLY pissed off at you to write you a ticket for fish sitting in your freezer with a date from 6 weeks ago on the package.

Now, if he had already found you with several out of season and undersized fish on deck, he’d probably go looking for everything he could find and let the judge sort it out.

My rule is simple, anything I caught today stays whole until I am at anchor. It then gets butchered, packaged and into the freezer. I comply with the spirit of the rules, if not the letter.

I know it is a technical violation, but on my list of things to worry about... it is really far, far, down the list.

[WhipCO]

Interesting and understandable.

But prolly not doable.

[Belezar]

I think you’d have more luck spear fishing if you found some good spots. You have heard some positive and negative comments. I think a big part of it is how much of your day do you want to devote to fishing? If you really like to fish then it’s great. I fish when sailing a good bit, but it’s not ideal at all. The truth is yes, dollar for dollar your better off to just buy it, especially since you’d be in a great fishing area there will be plenty of great cheap fish available. But if you like to fish, you don’t need a fancy boat and it’s not too messy to clean one or two fish and put them in your fridge. A couple of decent rods and rigs and a gaffe. Live bait works better. But again, how much do you like to fish?