FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. – Florida anglers frustrated for years by one- and two-day Atlantic red snapper seasons will get significantly more time on the water this year after NOAA approved a 39-day recreational fishing season, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Monday in Fernandina Beach.
Atlantic red snapper fishing in federal Atlantic waters was largely shut down in 2010 because of overfishing concerns, with anglers in recent years limited to brief one- and two-day recreational seasons.
Speaking alongside Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Executive Director Roger Young at Amelia Island Marina, DeSantis said Florida’s management of Gulf red snapper helped convince federal officials to allow the state a larger role in managing Atlantic red snapper fishing.
NOAA approved Florida’s request earlier this month through an exempted fishing permit pilot program that gives the state more authority over Atlantic recreational red snapper management.
Florida already has greater authority over Gulf red snapper management, which DeSantis said helped expand Gulf fishing access to roughly 120 fishing days while maintaining healthy fish populations. Florida officials argued that success should also apply to Atlantic waters, where anglers in recent years were limited to just one- or two-day seasons.
“The bureaucrats would say, ‘Oh, you are going to take all of the fish,’†DeSantis said. “Then I’ll talk to people who are actually out there, and they say, ‘There’s more than you know that is out here.’ We challenged the data, and we said we know there is more fish; we know the supply is healthy, and we want to be able to give, particularly our recreational anglers, an opportunity to go out and enjoy.â€
News4JAX reporter Briana Brownlee asked DeSantis what convinced federal officials to approve the expanded Atlantic season after years of restrictive fishing windows.
“We showed them basically the track record in the Gulf and the deficiencies in the data,†DeSantis said.
The Atlantic recreational red snapper season will run:
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May 22 through June 20
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Oct. 2-4
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Oct. 9-11
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Oct. 16-18
The season is expected to begin Memorial Day weekend and continue through June before reopening during three October weekends.
“As we were making progress on the Gulf red snapper, the state of Florida was handcuffed when it came to Atlantic red snapper,†DeSantis said.
The recreational bag limit will be one red snapper per angler per day within the 10-fish snapper-grouper aggregate limit. The captain and crew bag limit is zero.
Florida officials said anglers will also be required to declare fishing trips before leaving the dock through a new web-based application that FWC plans to release soon as part of expanded state data collection efforts.
DeSantis said the expanded season could help coastal businesses across Northeast Florida ahead of the busy summer boating season.
“This will be good for the local economy,†DeSantis said. “It would be good to drive growth to our tackle and bait shops, hotels, restaurants and the entire recreational community.â€
FWC officials said the expanded season is designed to pair increased fishing access with more detailed state-level fishery data collection to help sustainably manage the red snapper population.
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