What's the latest on Red Snapper? Have they set a season yet? Will there be a season?

Season for commercial. No season for recreational.

May 23rd 2015 - July 14th 2015
This is for State Waters Only

May get 1-11 days in federal water. I've not heard a definite yet.

I hear the season is year round this year..... As long as you don't get caught...

Final Ruleing on Snapper Season

Commission approves 70-day recreational red snapper season in Gulf state waters


The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) approved a 70-day recreational red snapper season for Gulf state waters at the April 16 meeting in Tallahassee. Red snapper is a popular species that has a strong economic impact for many coastal communities throughout Florida.

The 2015 season will start the Saturday before Memorial Day (May 23) and run through July 12, resume for all of Labor Day weekend (Sept. 5-7) and finish with Saturdays and Sundays throughout the rest of September and all of October, with the last day of harvest being Sunday, Nov. 1.

The 2015 Gulf federal waters recreational red snapper season has not been set yet and will be announced later this spring by NOAA Fisheries.

For more information, visit MyFWC.com/About and click on “The Commission” and “Commission Meetings.” For information on Gulf red snapper, visit MyFWC.com/Fishing and click on “Saltwater,” “Recreational Regulations” and “Gulf Snapper.”

Thanks!!!

You can pay a charter boat captain to take you out and catch your snapper, but if your on a private boat you can't. Makes sense to me.

Didn't the Feds still bust people last year fishing in State waters because they didn't recognize the State's season on Snapper?

The 70 day season Fl. is giving the rec. fishermen is the problem. When the states go against the Federal seasons it takes Federal water fish away from the recreational fisherman. You can thank Louisiana & Texas also.

The reason the gulf states are giving their citizens a state season is due to the flawed data that the idiots at NOAA use to cut back our federal season to a week. I live in Alabama and don't fish Florida waters, so that 70 day season doesn't affect me. Alabama only has a three mile boundary, so that shuts it down for red snapper there also.

This isn't the first year Florida has gone noncompliant with the federal season. Florida tried to make a statement years ago to Feds with a noncompliant snapper season and that has made the Feds shorten the season in the offshore waters.

I will agree with you 100% on the screwed up numbers that NMFS use.

They don't recognize our state boundaries. The state says we have 9 miles out to the edge of our boundaries. The feds only recognize 3 miles.

It'll be interesting if a state steps up and orders the arrest of federal game wardens writing tickets in claimed state waters.

In louisiana the state season started on March 20. Louisiana recognizes its state waters out to 10 miles, but the Feds only recognize it as 3 miles offshore. Funny thing is the Feds recognize florida and Texas state waters are 10 miles out. Last year I had both state game wardens check us and the feds check us. The state game wardens did not check our fish and said "y'all out here catching mangroves" we said sure. The Feds checked them and threatened to write us a ticket for being over 3 miles with red snapper, and told us they better not catch us again. Feds need to just let the states make the own seasons. I've sat under a oil rig and caught probably 50-70 snapper in a row till I got sick of it, I obviously was letting them go after I kept my 3. But come on there are so many of them things out there it's ridicoulous. I love fishing in Louisiana we were only 6-7 miles out catching snapper in a 17 ft bay boat. Growing up in central alabama this kind of fishing is insane to me.

No...Capt Jab, you know better than this. I know you have to drink the kool aid to help you stay in business but you don't have to really believe and repeat this lunacy....

Now that would be cool. Especially considering some of those officers would be Alabama and Mississippi LEO's. Somehow I think that ain't gonna happen...

I've done that too but never gotten sick of it! Louisiana is an awesome fishery that is true.

The actual arrests probably wouldn't be necessary, but a state officially announcing they would do so would get the point across. It'd send a hell of a message to DC.

Wouldnt that sorta be like telling people, they can only buy milk from me, and not the store??? Serious question..

I would liken it more to telling people that own a milk cow that they can't drink that milk from thier cow. They have to buy milk to drink from you or go to the store and buy it.

Or having to hire a guide to take you to kill a deer on your property you pay taxes on.

Daniel, I would say it'd be like they told you that you could only sale milk for 9 days last year because you are a business, but your neighbor could milk their cows for 70 plus days since he a recreational farmer.

The bottom line is the states going against the feds have caused the issue and I can completely understand why the states would do that.
The other big issue is that a charter boat has always had to follow the stricter season of the states or feds because we hold both license where a private boat owner is allowed to fish both and use it to their advantage.

An example would where a guy owns his boat and runs offshore and catches a mess of vermillion snapper, some grouper, a wahoo and heads back home to stop in state water to catch a quick limit of red snapper.

Another guy is on vacation at the same time and charters a boat, now he can go catch snapper in state waters with a non federal license guide boat for snapper in state waters, but they probably aren't going to have vermillions, grouper, and wahoo. Just snapper.
Or he can go with a charter boat that holds a federal license and goes out and catches a nice mixed bag of fish, but they can't stop and catch snapper in state water.

What gives the boat owner more rights than the renter?

You sure about that? What about the hunter that doesn't own property? Should he not be allowed to deer hunt by leasing property? That's how it's been for the past few years in the gulf. Private rec fisherman that own or have access to a boat have had more days available to the to keep snapper than the non boat owning public.

I meant leasing as well...same thing. It's BS

Snapper season date has not been set yet in the state of Alabama. I'll have more info in a couple of weeks.

Wow. Sounds confusing to me. Maybe they can reach some middle ground for everybody. I wasn't trying to stir in my earlier post. Just trying to understand.

I know you weren't. It's extremely screwed up. Charter for hire and rec. guys should have the same guide lines, but due to a rule put in place years ago and the states going against the feds, it has really messed everything up.

something everyone already knew, people get bit messing with them red snapper

All Gulf coast states except Texas (who has never been compliant) were compliant with federal red snapper regulations until 2013. The states started going non compliant due to an ever shortening Federal red snapper season in spite of real data and science showing that the red snapper stocks are and were recovering fine and in many parts of the Gulf are over the historical virgin stock level (due to increased habitat). NMFS took this extreme attitude not because of the state of the red snapper stocks, but due to the ruling of a federal court judge in Washington DC. The judge ruled in a lawsuit brought upon NOAA and NMFS by both the Restraunt and Commercial fishing industry's charging them with letting the Recreational sector over fish there quota in previous years including the year of the BP oil spill when the summer season was a less than two weeks.
Y'all don't kid yourselves, This is all about the financial control of a public resource. Nothing else.

^^^^ This

I agree with you on the financial control part, but I believe you may be wrong on the noncompliant part.
Not sure what year it was, but I can remember Al. & Fl. going noncompliant.

It's all a bunch of BS control. There is so many ARS out there that you can't drop a hook 20' under the boat with out hooking up. People cull to get the largest fish they can due to these so called restriction that are suppose to help increase the stock. Again I'll say BS.