TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — If a proposal slated to appear on the 2024 ballot passes, hunting and fishing could become activities protected by the Florida Constitution.

What You Need To Know

  • An amendment on the ballot in 2024 will ask residents if they want hunting and fishing to be protected by the state Constitution

  • The proposed amendment would enshrine the activities as a "public right" in Florida

  • Constitutional amendments require 60% voter approval

The proposal would amend the state Constitution and enshrine hunting and fishing as a “public right.” The amendment would also designate fishing and hunting as the “preferred means” of managing fish and wildlife populations.

“Every Floridian, in my opinion, has the right to fish and hunt, if you so well please, as long as you get a license and follow the rules,” said Joseph Motiwala, a Tallahassee native and avid outdoorsman. 

Proponents of the bill say the amendment will constitutionally ensure that lawmakers never limit or restrict such activities. Others, meanwhile, wonder if such protections are truly needed.

Constitutional amendments require 60% voter approval. If passed, the amendment will not require the governor’s approval. 

“I love fishing in Florida,” Motiwala said. “You can fish salt or fresh all over the state. It’s wonderful.”

Hunting and fishing, meanwhile, are not only popular activities in Florida, they are big business too.

In 2021, Florida ranked 11th in the nation for seafood production, bringing in a harvest of more than 110 million pounds, worth $262 million, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services,

The state is home to 7,000 lakes, more than 10,000 miles of river and roughly 2,276 miles of shoreline, according to Visit Florida.