The Ministry of Home Affairs advises the public that the number of recreational lobster diver licenses will be capped at 175 for the upcoming 2024-2025 spiny lobster season, which begins on 1st September. This limit remains unchanged from last season. Licenses will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis starting Wednesday, 21st August 2024, at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Headquarters in the Botanical Gardens.

This decision follows last year’s measures to further restrict both commercial and recreational lobster catches to help rebuild Bermuda’s spiny lobster population, which had shown a significant decline (visit government action article). The DENR will continue monitoring and collecting data from commercial and recreational fishers to guide fishery management.

Recreational fishers are reminded that the deadline to report catch data (including zero catches) for the 2023-2024 season was 30th April 2024. Divers licensed last season will only be eligible for relicensing if they submit their catch statistics to the DENR by the deadline.