NEW Nearshore Lobster Diving Rules in the Florida Keys

By KEVIN WADLOW kwadlow@keynoter.com

A new Monroe County law on nearshore diving closes more Florida Keys waters this month — one of the most significant changes to recreational lobster harvesting in years. The law bans most diving and snorkeling within 300 feet of many shorelines effective July 24 — three days before the start of the two-day lobster mini-season on July 27 and 28.

Passed on a 3-2 vote of the County Commission in December, the law says there will be no diving or snorkeling “within 300 feet of improved residential or commercial shorelines” in unincorporated Monroe for a total of 10 days.

The law, which also covers canals and marinas, runs from July 24 to the end of mini-season on July 28, and then for the first five days of the regular lobster season that begins Aug. 6. The same unincorporated nearshore waters have been closed during the two-day mini-season since 2003.

Marathon, Key Colony Beach and Islamorada all have their own nearshore-diving bans, and are not affected by the unincorporated-county change. Key West keeps its waters open.

Distribution of a newly revised brochure on Florida Keys lobster laws started recently. “This appears to be a little-known change in the law,” said Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Deputy Superintendent Mary Tagliareni, who updated the brochure.

The County Commission declared in its ordinance that the new rules are needed “to abate the destruction of property, deleterious environmental effects and criminal trespass that results from the close proximity of divers to public and private property … in search of spiny lobster….”

The Sheriff’s Office and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission are charged with enforcing the new law. “We can enforce it if our officers are nearby,” said FWC Officer Bobby Dube spokesman. “But we have a lot of other core missions that take priority in lobster season.

“We’re spread pretty thin and we’ve got a lot of water to cover,” Dube said. “It’s a very large area of responsibility.”

During the busy lobster sport-diving days, the Sheriff’s Office will put all available marine-certified deputies on the water, said Lou Caputo, chief of the agency’s Bureau of Law Enforcement. The Sheriff’s Office has four patrol boats of its own available, plus four personal watercraft on “law-enforcement loan.”

“So for those days, we can put eight boats on the water,” Caputo said. “That’s everything we have.”

Since the 2011 season marks the first year of the county’s expanded nearshore law, Caputo said, “The emphasis will be more on education. I expect that we’ll mostly warn people and ask them to move farther from shore.”

In communities that have a pre-existing nearshore diving ban, he added, “our deputies will be a little more strict.”

County Commissioner Sylvia Murphy spearheaded the ordinance expansion, saying her office constantly hears complaints from waterfront residents and business owners about mini-season problems.

“There are some people on the waterfront who want [the nearshore diving ban] for 12 months a year,” Murphy said. “I have some sympathy for their situation but not that much.”

The nearshore diving bans cover all types of diving — not just lobster harvests — because local governments cannot regulate wildlife harvesting. Exempted from the bans are diving for boat or dock maintenance.

Key Colony Beach has the lobster nearshore diving ban from four days before the start of the sport season until 10 days into the regular season. The regular lobster season lasts for eight months.

The rules do not affect offshore diving beyond 300 feet from shore. Existing closed areas at the reef and in protected areas remain closed.