Permit fishing is not only big fun, it is big money for backcountry fishing guides and charter boat captains in the Florida Keys.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has embarked on a review of the permit fishery and is considering tighter regulations on catching the sought-after game fish. One rule the agency is pursuing would extend bag limits and other regulations into adjoining federal waters, where now there are no rules for permit.

Anglers said that measure alone would not be enough. The conservation group Bonefish Tarpon Trust also has asked the agency to ban taking permit in state and federal waters from April through June, the species' spawning season, and allowing only catch-and-release fishing during that time.

Monroe County Commissioner George Neugent has placed a resolution on the March 17 County Commission meeting agenda that would lend the board's support for the measure.

Bonefish Tarpon Trust on Monday will kick off a Lower Keys tagging program, through the March Merkin Invitational Permit Tournament at the Key West Harbour Yacht Club on Stock Island, said the trust's director of operations, Aaron Adams.

The trust has received sponsorship for the five-year statewide project through the Costa Del Mar sunglass company and will partner with the state agency on the study, Adams said. The trust will provide 6,000 tags for the project.

Permit research has been limited and project organizers want to collect data that will inform fishery managers on permit movements in Florida waters and provide them with new data that might be applied to management zones.

Organizers want to know whether permit that spawn on artificial reefs off Southwest Florida are the same permit that inhabit the Florida Keys. They also want to know if permit are a single population or several smaller regional groups.

"There is so little data available," Adams said. "There has essentially been no stock assessments."

Adams will hold a workshop on the project at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Saltwater Angler, 243 Front St. For more information on the program, anglers can e-mail Adams at bonefish@mote.org.

Anglers can catch an unlimited number of the fish in federal waters, because there are no federal rules on permit fishing.

In December, the FWC drafted rules that would regulate permit fishing in federal waters adjacent to state waters, which include a six-per-day bag limit. The FWC board may review the rule in June and hold a final hearing on it in fall, spokesman Lee Schlesinger said.

The agency also is considering tighter restrictions on spearfishing.

tohara@keysnews.com