Saltwater fishing licence for a visitor
A nonresident saltwater fishing licence costs $15.50 for 3 consecutive days, $28.50 for 7 consecutive days or $45.50 for the year, and the annual spiny lobster permit costs $5.
The fees, as the statute sets them
A nonresident saltwater fishing licence is $15.50 for 3 consecutive days, $28.50 for 7 consecutive days, or $45.50 for the year. The annual spiny lobster permit is $5, and it costs the same whether you live in Florida or are passing through.
Those are the amounts in the section itself, read in the 2026 statutes. You will find figures a dollar or two higher on other pages. We do not know what they contain — the section does not mention anything added at the point of sale, so this page prints the statutory amount and not a total it cannot source.
Reading the arithmetic before you buy
The three licences overlap in a way that matters on a two-week charter: two 7-day licences cost more than the annual one. And the lobster permit is annual whatever licence sits under it, so a three-day crew that wants lobster is buying a year of the permit either way.
What this page is not
It is not the season. Fees are in this section; seasons, bag limits and the closures that go with them are in the wildlife rules, whose text could not be read when this page was written. A date from last year’s season is worse than no date, so there is none here.
Worth knowing
- These are the amounts in the statute. The section sets them. Whether anything is added when a licence is actually issued is not in the section, and nothing has been added to them here — figures a dollar or two higher circulate, and none of them is the statute's.F.S. 379.354(5)
- Where they stand in the section. The three licences are in the nonresident subsection. The spiny lobster permit is in the permits subsection and costs the same for a resident or a nonresident.F.S. 379.354(5), (8)
- A licence is not a season. This section sets fees. Seasons, bag limits and the closures that go with them are in the wildlife rules, not here, and no date or limit from them is carried on this page.F.S. 379.354
- The lobster permit is a permit, not a licence. It is an annual permit, listed separately from the saltwater fishing licence — which is why a crew that buys a 3-day licence and then goes after lobster pays for a year of the permit.F.S. 379.354(8)
Questions
What does a saltwater fishing licence cost a visitor in Florida?
By the statute: $15.50 for 3 consecutive days, $28.50 for 7 consecutive days, $45.50 for the year. The annual spiny lobster permit is $5 on top.
I have seen higher figures. Which is right?
This page carries the amounts in F.S. 379.354 as read in the 2026 statutes. Higher figures are in circulation; what, if anything, is added at the point of sale is not in the section, so we do not print a total.
Do I need the lobster permit as well as the licence?
The permit is listed separately from the licence and is an annual one. It costs the same for a resident or a nonresident.
When is lobster season?
Not on this page. Seasons and bag limits are in the wildlife rules rather than in the fee section, and the rule text could not be read when this page was written — so no date is given here rather than a date that might be last year's.
Sources & checks
- Florida Statutes 379.354 (2026) – Recreational licenses, permits, and authorization numbers; fees established · 21 Oct 2026