Tidal Seasons, Size & Creel Limits

Name: eRegulations
Price range: $

Tidal Waters (Changes expected for species listed in RED)
Species			Open Season	Minimum Size	Daily Limit
		American eel	All year	9 inches	25
		American & hickory shad	Closed Nanticoke R. & its tribs.; Open all year elsewhere	No Size Limit	2 American shad 10 Hickory shad
		Atlantic croaker	All year	8 inches	No Daily Limit
		Atlantic sturgeon	Endangered - no harvest permitted (see also Sport Fishing Tournament)
		Black drum	All year	16 inches	3
		Black sea bass	May 15 – Sep. 30 Oct. 10 – Dec. 31	13 inches	15
		Bluefish	All year	No Size Limit	3 – fishing from a private vessel or shore 5 – fishing from a charter boat or headboat
		Catfish (any species)	All year	No Size Limit	No Daily Limit
		Cobia	All year	37 inches	1 per angler or 1 per vessel
		Red drum	All year	20 - 27 inches may be retained	5
		River herring (alewife & blueback)	Closed - no harvest permitted
		Scup	All year	8 inches	40
		Spanish mackerel	All year	14 inches	15
		Spot	TBD (Refer to the electronic version of Delaware’s fishing guide at www.fw.delaware.gov, for updated regulatory changes as they occur)
		Spotted seatrout	All year	12 inches	No Daily Limit
		Striped bass	All year, except catch & release only on spawning grounds Apr 1 - May 31	28 – 31 inches; except 20 - 25 inches only - Jul 1 - Aug 31 in the DE Bay, River and their tributaries.	1, except catch & release only on spawning grounds April 1 - May 31
		Summer flounder	All year	16 inches	4
		Tautog	Jan. 1 - May 15	16 inches	4
			July 1 - Dec. 31		4
		Tilefish (Blueline)	May 1 - Oct. 31	No Size Limit	3 - person from private vessel 5 - person from US Coast Guard uninspected for-hire vessel 7 - person from US Coast Guard inspected for-hire vessel
		Tilefish (Golden)	All year	No Size Limit	8
		Weakfish	All year	13 inches	1
		White perch	All year	8 inches	No Daily Limit
		Winter flounder	Feb. 11 - Apr. 10	12 inches	2
Species			Open Season	Minimum Size	Daily Limit
Blue crab - See Blue Crabs, Clams, Conchs & Oysters for more details			Pots: Mar. 1 - Nov. 30; other gears year around	Peeler - 3 inches	1 bushel
				Soft-shell - 3.5 inches
				Hard-shell - 5 inches
Jonah crab			All year	4 3/4 inches	50
Hard clams			All year	1.5 inches	100/resident
					50/non-resident
Lobster			All year	3 3/8 - 5 1/4 inches (slot)	2; V-notched prohibited
Conch See Blue Crabs, Clams, Conchs & Oysters for details	Knobbed whelk		All year	5 inches / 3 inch whorl	5 bushels
	Channeled whelk		All year	6 inches / 3.125 inch whorl	5 bushels
Sharks and Highly Migratory Species (HMS) - Special permit required for federal waters
Species			Open Season	Minimum Size	Daily Limit
		Smoothhound and spiny dogfish	All year	No Size Limit	No Daily Limit
		Blacktip shark, bull shark, lemon shark, nurse shark, silky shark, spinner shark, tiger shark	Jan. 1 - May 14 July 16 - Dec. 31	54 inches FORK LENGTH	Boat anglers - only 1 shark of any species per vessel, except 1 additional bonnethead and 1 additional Atlantic sharpnose per angler onboard vessel. Shore anglers - only 1 shark of any species per angler, except 1 additional bonnethead and one additional Atlantic sharpnose per shore angler.
		Great hammerhead, scalloped hammerhead, smooth hammerhead	Jan. 1 - May 14 July 16 - Dec. 31	78 inches FORK LENGTH
		Blue shark, oceanic white-tip shark, porbeagle, thresher shark	All year	54 inches FORK LENGTH
		Atlantic sharpnose shark, blacknose shark, bonnethead, finetooth shark	All year	No Size Limit
Prohibited Species
		Sandbar shark, sand tiger, Atlantic angel shark, basking shark, bigeye sand tiger, bigeye sixgill shark, bigeye thresher, bignose shark, Caribbean reef shark, Caribbean sharpnose shark, dusky shark, Galapagos shark, longfin mako, narrowtooth shark, night shark, sevengill shark, shortfin mako, sixgill shark, smalltail shark, whale shark, white shark	The sandbar & sand tiger are toothed sharks commonly taken in the nearshore waters of the state and are prohibited species. Like all prohibited species, they must be immediately released to ensure the maximum probability of survival.
Special Restrictions for Shark
It is unlawful to fillet a shark prior to landing. A shark may be eviscerated prior to landing, but head, tail and fins must remain attached to the carcass.
It is unlawful to release a shark in a manner that will not ensure the sharks maximum probability of survival (i.e. no gaffs, no clubbing, careful hook removal, etc.). A non-offset, corrodible, non-stainless steel circle hook must be used when fishing for shark, except when fishing with flies or artificial lures.
It is unlawful to possess the fins from any shark prior to landing unless they are naturally attached to the body of the shark.
Tunas and HMS - Special permit required
		Atlantic tunas, swordfish and billfish	*Special permit required - All private vessel owners/operators recreationally fishing for and/or retaining regulated Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (Atlantic tunas, sharks, swordfish and billfish) for personal use in the Atlantic Ocean must obtain an Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Angling Permit. Further limits and restrictions apply. Consult hmspermits.noaa.gov or call toll free (888) 872-8862 for specific information and permits.