AS SEEN IN THE JULY / AUGUST 2007 ISSUE

The majority of game fish size restrictions instituted by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission nowadays require either a "Total Length" or "Fork Length" measurement, with the exception of billfish which call for a "Lower Jaw Fork" measurement. 

These three methods of sizing up prey provide consistent, well-defined numbers which encourage recreational angler compliance with fisheries management. However, in order for all of us to see the long term benefits of size restrictions, bag limits and closed seasons, the recreational angling community must comprehend the definition of each measurement rule without an inch of doubt.

The State of Florida has wrestled with just how to consistently measure saltwater game fish for more than 80 years. Since the very beginning, back in 1925 when Legislature first enacted length measurements for marine finfish, many different rules have been in use including Tip of Nose to Fork of Tail, Tip of Nose to Tip of Tail, Tip of Nose to End of Tail and Tip of Nose to Rear Center Edge of Tail. At any one time, one or all of these similar definitions were in play. To confuse matters even further, in the late 1980s, both Total Length size limits and Fork Length size limits were listed in the rule for a number of different species.

Thankfully, in the mid 1990s, it was decided that a single criteria be chosen for measuring each particular species. Decisions needed to be based partly on the way federal regulations specified how each fish should be measured and managed, and partly on the shape of the fish’s tail. It is still believed that a single measurement rule for each fish is essential for consistent enforcement of both state and federal size limits.

Initially, FWC rules lacked a clear definition of just how to obtain the Total Length of any species, leaving the final number open to interpretation by individual anglers and law enforcement officers. Because of the ongoing confusion, a clear definition was finally approved at the December 2005 Commission meeting resulting in the implementation of the pinched tail approach. The clarification provides ease of Total Length measurement for anglers and wildlife officers. It is also believed that overall, a greater level of compliance with Florida regulations will be the result because visiting anglers from nearby states are currently accustomed to obtaining Total Length measurements by pinching the fish’s tail in their home waters, including Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Georgia, and North Carolina. Plus, many of Florida’s recreational fishermen have been computing Total Length this way for years. For this group of anglers, nothing has changed.