2012 - 2013 Saltwater Fishing Regulations

Size & Catch Limits for Saltwater Fish

TL = Total Length
FL = Fork Length; See How to Measure a Fish.
AIW = Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway

State Waters extend from the saltwater-freshwater dividing line to the 3-mile limit.
Federal Waters extend from the 3-mile limit to 200 miles offshore (international waters).

All species in this section must be landed with head and tail intact.

Inshore Finfish

Species	Closed Season	Bag Limit	Minimum Size Limit	Restrictions
American Shad	No closed season for recreational hook & line harvest; For all other gears, seasons as for commercial harvest	10 shad per person per day except in Santee River and Rediversion Canal (20 per person per day) 1 U.S. bushel of herring per person per day		Licensing, permitting, and gear requirements.
Herring	Herring Closures	1 U.S. bushel of herring per person per day		Licensing, permitting, and gear requirements.
Black Drum		5 per person per day	14-inch to 27- inch TL
Bluefish		15 per person per day
Flounders (Southern, Summer & Gulf)		20 per person per day not to exceed 40 per boat per day except in the waters of Pawleys Inlet north to the northern terminus of Main Creek at Garden City Beach (10 per person per day not to exceed 20 per boat per day)	14-inch TL	Bag limits apply to rod & reel or gig. Any type of artificial illumination produced by motor fuel powered generators cannot be used while gigging or fishing for flounder in the waters of Pawleys Inlet north to the northern terminus of Main Creek at Garden City Beach.
Red Drum	Cannot be harvested by gig Dec. - Feb.	3 per person per day (state waters) 0 per person per day (federal waters)	15-inch to 23-inch TL	May only be taken by rod & reel and gig. May not be harvested from federal waters.
Saltwater catfishes (Hardhead & gafftopsail catfishes)	Possession prohibited	Possession prohibited		If caught must be released immediately.
Sheepshead		10 per person per day not to exceed 30 per boat per day	14-inch TL
Spotted Seatrout	Cannot be harvested by gig Dec. - Feb.	10 per person per day	14-inch TL	May only be taken by rod & reel and gig.
Striped Bass	Possession prohibited: June 1 – Sept. 30 except in lower reach of the Savannah River (2 per person per day year round;)	Possession prohibited: June 1 – Sept. 30; 3 fish per person per day: Oct. 1 – May 31 except in lower reach of the Savannah River (2 per person per day year round)	26 inch TL except in lower reach of the Savannah River (27 inch TL)	May only be taken by rod & reel.
Hybrid Bass, White Bass & Combinations		In lower reach of the Savannah River: 2 per person per day All other saltwaters: no bag limit	In the lower reach of the Savannah River: 27 inch TL All other saltwaters: no size limit
Tarpon		1 per person per day		May only be taken by rod & reel.
Weakfish		1 per person per day	12-inch TL

Offshore Finfish

These species are also federally managed by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) from 3-200 miles offshore. Regulations for some of these species may be changing soon. Please contact the SAFMC at 843-571-4366 or www.safmc.net to get the most up to date regulations on these species.

Many of these species are managed under an Annual Catch Limit (ACL). Fishery will close when the ACL is met or projected to be met. Current landings information can be found at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sf/RecreationalLandingsandCatchLimits.html.

The harvest and possession of coastal migratory pelagic species by commercial and recreational fishermen will be limited to the recreational bag limit within the Special Management Zones. See "Special Information" for information on SMZs.

See "Special Information" for information on Marine Protected Areas.

Species	Bag Limit	Minimum Size Limit	Restrictions
Cobia	2 per person per day	33-inch FL	For-hire vessels must have a Coastal Migratory Pelagics permit to fish for this species in federal waters. In state waters may only be taken by rod & reel and gig.
Dolphin	10 per person per day not to exceed 60 per boat per day. Headboats have no boat limit	20-inch FL	For hire vessels must have a Dolphin Wahoo permit to fish for this species in federal waters. Sale of recreational catch is prohibited.
King Mackerel	3 per person per day	24-inch FL	For-hire vessels must have a Coastal Migratory Pelagics permit to fish for this species in federal waters.
Spanish Mackerel	15 per person per day	12-inch FL	For-hire vessels must have a Coastal Migratory Pelagics permit to fish for this species in federal waters.
Wahoo	2 per person per day		For hire vessels must have a Dolphin Wahoo permit to fish for this species in federal waters. Sale of recreational catch is prohibited.

Atlantic Tunas

Federal Highly Migratory Species Permit required to fish for these species except for the Other Tunas. Check current federal regulations by calling 1-888-USA-TUNA (1-888-872-8862) or checking https://hmspermits.noaa.gov/.

Species	Bag Limit	Minimum Size Limit	Restrictions
Albacore, Skipjack
Bigeye Tuna		27-inch curved FL
Bluefin Tuna	1 per vessel per day per trip	27-inch to 73-inch curved FL	See https://hmspermits.noaa.gov for for-hire vessel bag and size limits.
Yellowfin Tuna	3 per person per day per trip	27-inch curved FL
Other tunas: Blackfin tuna, Bonita, and Little tunny

Billfish

Federal Highly Migratory Species Permit required to fish for these species. All billfish to be released may not be removed from the water. All recreationally caught Atlantic billfish landed must be reported to NMFS within 24 hours of landing at the dock. Anglers can report by calling 1-800-894-5528 or by visiting https://hmspermits.noaa.gov/. Recreationally caught billfish may not be sold.

Species	Closed Season	Bag Limit	Minimum Size Limit	Restrictions
Blue Marlin			99-inch FL from lower jaw	May only be taken by rod & reel.
White Marlin			66-inch FL from lower jaw	May only be taken by rod & reel.
Sailfish			63-inch FL from lower jaw	May only be taken by rod & reel.
Swordfish		1 per person per day not to exceed 4 per vessel per trip	47-inch FL from lower jaw	May only be taken by rod & reel and handlines. Handlines must be attached to, or remain in contact with, the vessel at all times. See https://hmspermits.noaa.gov for for-hire vessel bag limits.
Spearfish (longbill and roundscale)	Possession prohibited	Possession prohibited		If caught fish must be released immediately.

Snapper Grouper Complex

Possession of a dehooking device is required when fishing for snapper grouper species. Non-stainless circle hooks are required when fishing with natural baits for snapper grouper species.

Sale of snapper grouper under the recreational bag limit is prohibited UNLESS vessel owner has Federal Commercial Snapper Grouper Permit & applicable SC commercial licenses. For-hire vessels must have a Snapper Grouper permit to fish for these species in federal waters.

The harvest and possession of snapper grouper species by commercial and recreational fishermen will be limited to the recreational bag limit within the Special Management Zones (SMZs). See "Special Information" for information on SMZs.

Species	Closed Season	Bag Limit	Minimum Size Limit	Restrictions
Greater Amberjack		1 per person per day	28-inch FL	In April, for-hire vessels are limited to 1 per person/day or 1/per person/trip.
Hogfish			12-inch FL
Spadefish		No more than 20 per person per day in aggregate with snapper grouper complex species
Wreckfish	Closed: January 1 – June 30 and September 1 – December 31	1 per vessel per day

Seabass

Species	Closed Season	Bag Limit	Minimum Size Limit	Restrictions
Black Sea Bass	Closed Effective September 4	5 per person per day	13-inch TL

Porgies and Snappers

Species	Closed Season	Bag Limit	Minimum Size Limit
Red Porgy		3 per person per day	14-inch TL
Vermillion Snapper	Closed: Nov. 1 - Mar. 31	5 per person per day; excluded from 10 snapper per person per day limit	12-inch TL
Red Snapper	Possession prohibited.	Possession prohibited.
Lane Snapper		10 per person per day from this group	8-inch TL
Black, Blackfin, Cubera, Dog, Yellowtail, Gray, Mahogany, Schoolmaster			12-inch TL
Silk and Queen Snapper			12-inch TL
Mutton Snapper			16-inch TL

Grouper and Tilefish

Species	Closed Season	Bag Limit	Minimum Size Limit	Restrictions
Gag & Black Grouper	Closed: Jan. 1 - Apr. 30	3 per person per day from this group; no more than 1 Gag or Black grouper or more than 1 Golden Tilefish may be included in this total	24-inch TL
Scamp, Red, Yellowfin, & Yellowmouth Groupers	Closed: Jan. 1 - Apr. 30		20-inch TL
Golden Tilefish	Closed: June 8, 2012; Will re-open: Jan. 1, 2013
Blueline Tilefish, Misty Grouper, Yellowedge Grouper, and Sand Tilefish
Coney, Grasby, Red Hind, Rock Hind	Closed: Jan. 1 - Apr. 30
Snowy Grouper		1 per vessel per day; included in the 3 grouper per person per day bag limit
Warsaw and Speckled Hind	Possession prohibited	Possession prohibited
Nassau & Goliath Grouper	Possession prohibited	Possession prohibited		If caught must be released by cutting the line and not removing the fish from the water.

All Other Snapper Grouper Complex Species

Species	Closed Season	Bag Limit	Minimum Size Limit	Restrictions
Including but not limited to: Lesser amberjack; Cottonwick; White Grunt; Scup; Almaco & Bar Jacks; Margate; Whitebone, Knobbed, Jolthead, Saucereye & Longspine porgies; Puddingwife; Banded rudderfish; Sailors choice; Bank seabass; Rock seabass; Gray & Ocean triggerfish		20 per person per day aggregate bag limit		Bluerunners and Tomtates are excluded from the bag limit.

Sharks

Federal Highly Migratory Species Permit required in federal waters. Recreational anglers may only take sharks with rod and reel or handline. All sharks must be landed with fins, head and tail naturally attached. Check current federal regulations by visiting https://hmspermits.noaa.gov/.

Species	Closed Season	Bag Limit	Minimum Size Limit	Restrictions
Dogfish (spiny & smooth)
Atlantic Sharpnose		1 per person per day
Bonnethead		1 per person per day
Blacknose, Blacktip, Blue, Bull, Finetooth, Great Hammerhead, Scalloped Hammerhead, Smooth Hammerhead, Lemon, Shortfin Mako, Nurse, Porbeagle, Spinner, Thresher, Tiger and Oceanic Whitetip Sharks		1 shark per vessel per day from this group	54-inch FL
Atlantic Angel, Basking, Bignose, Dusky, Galapagos, Longfin Mako, Narrowtooth, Night, Caribbean Reef, Sandbar, Sevengill, Caribbean Sharpnose, Silky, Bigeye Sixgill, Sixgill, Smalltail, Bigeye Thresher, Bigeye Sand Tiger, Sand Tiger, Whale and White Sharks	Possession prohibited	Possession prohibited		If caught sharks from this group must be released immediately.

The 2012-2013 Saltwater Fishing Regulations are provided in the Adobe® Acrobat® (PDF) format. Adobe® Reader® is required to open this file and is available as a free download from the Adobe® Web site.