Permit is one of the most sought-after fish in Florida.

The species fights wildly and the shiny silver fish look amazing when flats fishermen hold them up to pose for photographs. Backcountry charter guides spend hours stalking them on the flats, and catching one can mean the difference in being tipped or not.

Catching them, however, is the subject of two proposed rules the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is considering. One would allow spearfishing in state waters. The other would extend all state rules into adjoining federal waters where there are no rules.

The FWC board will meet Dec. 10 in Clewiston to review the new rules its fishery biologists proposed after five public workshops from Vero Beach to Key Colony Beach.

The staff recommended allowing spearfishing for permit larger than 20 inches, though public comments ranged from support for banning it to allowing it for permit of all sizes, FWC biologists wrote.

It also recommended extending state rules into federal waters. The South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico federal fishery management councils support the measure, fishery biologists stated in a report to the FWC board.

State regulations limit the per-day catch to six and the size at 11 to 20 inches, with an allowance for one fish greater than 20 inches.

One rule conservationists recommended but the FWC rejected was prohibiting permit fishing during their spawning season.

"More information is needed about the timing and location of spawning aggregations, as well as stock connectivity and recruitment," FWC staff wrote, adding that most who spoke at the public hearings agreed.

Another rejected rule would have allowed only catch-and-releasing fishing, which the majority of public comments did not support, FWC staff said. That would have prohibited even temporary possession for taking pictures, measuring them or carrying them in live wells for competitive tournaments. The staff considered a request to change the definitions of "harvest" and "possession" to allow for such activities, but determined it would be too difficult to enforce.

Lower Keys commercial fisherman and conservationist Don DeMaria called the proposed rules changes "a reasonable compromise with all stakeholders."

"I have no problem with the staff recommendations on permit," DeMaria said. "The main issue has always been a loophole in the law that allows an unlimited harvest of permit in federal waters, especially on spawning sites, by any method, even netting. A vessel limit of no more than two permit over 20 inches takes care of that problem, while still allowing spearing of permit."

In other business

The FWC also will hold a final public hearing on proposed rules to protect group from being overfished. They would:

• Decrease the per-person per-day limit for all grouper in the Atlantic Ocean and Monroe County state waters from five to three.

• Prohibit the captain and crew of for-hire vessels from keeping any fish and decrease their bag limit for gag and black grouper from two to one caught either in the Atlantic or state waters in Monroe County.

• Prohibit all recreational and commercial harvest of shallow-water groupers from Jan. 1 through April 30 in Atlantic and Monroe County state waters, including gag, black, red, scamp, red hind, rock hind, coney, graysby, yellowfin, yellowmouth and tiger.

There also will be a final public hearing on a management plan for Atlantic coastal sharks and enhancing existing protective measures for sharks that inhabit Florida waters.

The FWC board is expected to approve conducting a population study of Goliath grouper to consider fishermen's request to allow at least limited fishing for the species they accuse of devouring lobsters, a FWC biologist said.

tohara@keysnews.com