11/19/2025
Makes zero sense to make it harder for anglers visiting Florida to get a license! Send them an email!
⚠️ FLORIDA FISHING COMMUNITY — WE NEED TO PUSH BACK ⚠️
FWC has quietly made a MASSIVE change:
Non-resident 3-day and 7-day licenses are now in-person only.
-Not online.
-Not on the app.
-Not at Walmart kiosks.
-Not anywhere digital.
And this change went live November 7th — with zero warning and barely any notice after the fact.
Let that sink in… in 2025, the state that moved everything online now requires tourists to hunt down the few stores that still sell licenses — even though most quit selling them because the entire system went digital years ago.
This makes it harder on:
• Visitors
• Land-based charter clients
• Seasonal families
• Anyone trying to fish legally
And here comes the real kicker:
The online annual non-resident license — the ONLY one still available online — now automatically includes Snook + Lobster permits… and you can’t remove them.
A “glitch,” they say.
A glitch that…
✔️ pushes people into buying the most expensive option
✔️ forces add-on permits even if you’re nowhere near places they apply
✔️ conveniently boosts revenue
✔️ solves nothing about the so called “issues” happening in the Keys
If the problem is people in the Keys not getting the right add-ons, then fix the enforcement in the Keys. Write tickets. Add officers. Do education campaigns.
Don’t rewrite the entire system for 8,000+ miles of Florida coastline where these permits don’t even apply.
This is NOT how you support tourism.
This is NOT how you support the fishing economy.
And this is NOT how you treat the community that keeps Florida outdoors alive.
⸻
Our ask? A UNITED PUSHBACK
Florida anglers, captains , land-based charter businesses, bait shops, and visitors — we need to stand together on this.
Here’s what we can do right now:
1. Email FWC (politely but firmly) demanding the return of online 3- and 7-day non-resident licenses.
[email protected]
2. Comment on their official posts — they can ignore one person, but they can’t ignore thousands.
3. Share this post so more people know what’s happening.
4. Tag local representatives — especially in high-tourism counties that depend on visitors fishing legally.
5. Push for regional solutions
• If Monroe County has permit abuse? Fine — make add-ons mandatory there but not in escambia for example.
• But forcing every tourist from Pensacola to key west to buy Snook + Lobster permits makes ZERO sense.
We deserve a system that works. Our clients deserve convenience. Our state deserves better.
If we don’t speak up now, this “glitch” and this policy will become permanent — and Florida’s fishing community will be the one paying for it.
Let’s get loud. Let’s get organized. Let’s get this fixed.
Very sincerely-Coastal Worldwide on behalf of fishing tourism
