Permits and Licenses

• For many kinds of ocean fishing, including crabs, a saltwater recreational fishing license is required. The kind of license depends on the age of the fisherman, the type of vessel used (charter or commercial) and the number of people on the vessel at a given time.
  
  

Size

• Size regulations depend on what kind of crabs are being caught. For blue crabs, there is a 5-inch minimum from point to point. When fishing for stone crabs, the claws must be a minimum of 2 3/4 inches long. All other crabs have no size limitations.
  
  

Number of Crab Pots Allowed

• Recreational vessels are allowed no more than two pots, or traps, at a time. Commercial vessels are required to have at least two pots, with no strict limitation on a maximum. No pot shall be left unattended in an area of open water for more than five consecutive days. There is no limitation on the number of crabs allowed to be caught on a given trip--as long as pot-usage requirements are met.
  
  

Time of Year

• There is no closed season for using crab pots or any other method of catching crabs. However, a lot of commercial fisheries close between mid-September and early December, as this is usually the prime harvesting time for crabs.
  
  

Specific Restrictions

• For blue crabs, females with an egg mass must be returned to the water immediately. For stone crabs, only crabs with two claws may have one removed, the larger one being kept. No claws can be removed from a female with an egg mass. No fisherman can keep a stone crab body other than for food--whether living or dead. In addition, all pots used for recreational purposes must be marked with yellow floats only.