Allow recreational sport fishermen traveling home from vacation in the Bahamas on private vessels to possess a bag limit on filleted pelagic fish (mahi mahi, tuna, and wahoo) based on pounds per person, per day, capped at a certain number of days, with proper documentation of having been in the Bahamas.
Why is this important?
The Federal Government has banned recreational fisherman from bringing back filleted Pelagic fish (mahi-mahi, Wahoo, Tuna). The problem primarily impacts recreational fisherman on the Florida East Coast travelling to the Bahamas. Recreational boats are not equipped with coolers large enough to keep whole fish fresh for trips of a duration greater than 2 or 3 days and many of the islands do not have stable supplies of ice, causing these fish to rot and go to waste. Also recreational boats, unlike commercial fishing boats, lack the ability to freeze fish whole. We are proposing a recreational per person per day bag limit of fillets measured in pounds to be capped at a certain amount. This would allow recreational anglers to fillet fish, freeze them at the place they are staying and legally return with this fish to Florida.
