For the lucky few who stumble upon one, a coastal Alabama jubilee can mean a haul of fresh flounder, shrimp, and crabs practically at their feet.

But last June’s jubilee in Point Clear didn’t just deliver a bounty, it also led to arrests and fines for people caught with undersized fish, over-the-limit flounder, and a bad attitude.

Now, Alabama officials believe they have found a way to preserve the thrill of the catch without the legal fallout.

State Rep. Matt Simpson, R-Daphne, said the agreement is the result of meetings he had with ADCNR officials including Chris Blankenship, the agency’s commissioner. Blankenship is also a longtime coastal resident who headed up ADCNR’s Marine Resources Division from 2011 to 2017.

“This is a great example of government helping people without getting in the way, making sure that a legacy event like a jubilee can continue to be enjoyed by everyone,” Simpson said.

He later told AL.com that legislation he introduced this session, HB55, will no longer be under consideration. That bill would have exempted people from having a fishing license during jubilees. The legislation did not exempt people from abiding from state size and creel limits.

Simpson pitched the legislation during a House committee meeting in February, even showing lawmakers what a jubilee is and what it means to the Eastern Shore of Baldwin County.

Jubilees are rare and are unique to the Mobile Bay in the United States. They only occur in two places in the world — Mobile and Baldwin counties and Tokyo Bay.

A jubilee can range from anywhere from 500 feet in length to 15 miles and traditionally have been found along the Eastern Shore from Daphne to Fairhope and Point Clear.

As Simpson noted, the City of Daphne is considered the “Jubilee City” featuring shopping centers like “Jubilee Square.” The high school football team plays its games at “Jubilee Stadium.”

“It’s important to who we are and what the City of Daphne is and anything we can do to promote Daphne and the great atmosphere and natural phenomena that is in Daphne, that’s what I’m excited about,” he said.

A jubilee occurs when mostly bottom-dwelling creatures in Mobile Bay are forced to the shoreline when water oxygen drops. The jubilees come in many forms, from events with just flounder and shrimp and crabs to more flourishing occasions with all sorts of sea creatures lined up in the shallow waters.

Jubilees often follow an afternoon rain shower and an easterly or northerly wind.

Simpson said his legislation wasn’t intended to change the size of fish caught or the number caught during a jubilee. As state officials have stressed, jubilees are not to be confused with a massive “fish kill,” and the marine life generally returns to normal behavior as conditions change.

The state has restrictions in place on flounder that applies to any kind of fishing, jubilees or otherwise. In 2019, the state placed limits on flounder catches to a size limit of 14 inches total length. A bag limit of five fish per person for recreational anglers is also in place, down from a 10-fish daily limit established in 2008.

Recreational and commercial flounder fishing is also closed during the month of November in Alabama, to give the fish time to migrate to the Gulf to spawn.

The state also has limits on shrimp and blue crab catches.

The actions to address jubilees come after tickets were issued last June to at least three people for possessing large amounts of flounder or having undersized fish. A disorderly conduct arrest was made on a 66-year-old man who allegedly shouted obscenities while encountering Marine Resource Offices with the ADCNR, while they issued citations for the illegal fishing.

Blankenship, shortly after the incident, urged people that they needed to follow the state rules. He said that jubilees were not fishing free-for-alls, and that jubilees are not massive “fish kills,” which they are sometimes confused as being.

The commissioner said he was pleased with the outcome from his talks with Simpson.

“As a longtime coastal resident and the place where I have spent the majority of my career with the Department, I look forward to residents and visitors having a great spring and summer of fishing and outdoor recreation on Mobile Bay,” he said.

The state is encouraging people to find more information about saltwater fishing size and creel limits, public access sits and information on obtaining a saltwater fishing license at www.outdooralabama.com.