Florida spiny lobster seasons start soon! 

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Florida Keys Lobster Info: KeysLobsterSeason.com 

The 2025 spiny lobster season opens with the 2-day recreational sport season July 30 and 31, followed by the regular commercial and recreational lobster season, which starts Aug. 6 and runs through March 31, 2026. 

Learn more about bag limits, size limits, where to harvest and other regulations at MyFWC.com/Marine by clicking on “Recreational Regulations” and “Lobster,” under the “Crabs, Lobster and other Shellfish” tab. If you plan to lobster in the Keys, another great resource is the Monroe County Tourist Development Council website KeysLobsterSeason.com. 

For registered Lionfish Challenge participants, qualifying for the 2025 Lionfish Challenge Coin allows for the harvest of an extra lobster each day of the 2025 2-day sport season. Challenge participants can qualify for the Challenge Coin by harvesting and reporting at least 25 lionfish as a recreational harvester or at least 50 pounds of lionfish as a commercial harvester. Participants must have the physical 2025 FWC-issued Challenge Coin on their person to harvest the extra lobster. Register for the 2025 Lionfish Challenge at FWCReefRangers.com. 

Don’t forget to get your license and spiny lobster permit at GoOutdoorsFlorida.com. 

Looking to keep up to date on Florida’s saltwater fishing regulations? Find them on the Fish Rules app. Learn more at FishRulesApp.com. 

If bully netting this season, please keep lights directed toward the water and avoid shining them at houses or people along the shoreline. Please be considerate of others by keeping sound levels low when near shoreline residences.

 Don’t forget to use care around corals and other marine life. The FWC launched the Florida Coral Crew to engage sportsmen and women in the effort to combat stony coral tissue loss disease. Before you go out looking for lobster, you can sign up to join the crew at FLCoralCrew.com.

 Be safe when diving for lobster. Wear a life jacket when underway and do not drink and boat. When lobstering in open water, divers should stay within 300 feet of a properly displayed divers-down flag or device and within 100 feet of a properly displayed divers-down flag or device if near an inlet or navigation channel. Boat operators traveling within 300 feet of a divers-down flag or device in open water or within 100 feet of one on an inlet or navigational channel must slow to idle speed. For more regulation information, visit MyFWC.com/Boating and click on ”Boating Regulations” and then “Divers-down Warning Devices.”