My neighbor recently had the unfortunate circumstance of cleaning out his mother’s house after she passed away. While he was cleaning the house, he found a hunting and fishing regulations book from the 1968-69 season. He gave the book to me. I thought it was interesting how some things changed and some remained the same. I thought I would share some of these comparisons with you since fishing licenses have to be renewed at the end of June each year. Here are some of the fishing regulations:

Resident Licenses 1968 $1.00 per year Now -Basic $9.50 and saltwater $5.50

Non-resident 1968 $5.00 per year Now - Basic $60.00 and saltwater $30.00

Non-resident 7 day trip 1968 $ 2.00 Now Basic 4-day $15.00 saltwater 4-day $45.00

Those are the only licenses that were required in 1968. There were no recreational gear licenses.

The saltwater recreational limits were vastly different than today.

In 1968 saltwater fish limits- What’s a limit?

Now – Speckled trout 25 per day,

Red and Black drum 5 per day,

Flounder 10 per day,

Shrimp 25 lbs per day

Crabs 144 per day

Just to name a few.

The frash water limits in 1968 and today:

Black bass 15 per day, Now 10 per day

Yellow bass 25 per day, Now 50 per day

White bass 25 per day, Now 50 per day

Crappie 50 per day, Now 50 per day

Sunfish 100 per day, Now no limit

The final comparison that I will mention is boat registration. A three-year registration in 1968 cost $5.00. Now, the fee is determined by the length of the boat, it starts at $ 18.00 for three years.

I would like to thank my neighbor for sharing the regulations booklet with me. I hope you found this information interesting.