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Gulf red snapper sport seasons set to
reopen – with changes
April 12, 2007
Contact: Lee Schlesinger, (850) 487-0554
Recreational anglers will be able to catch and
keep red snapper in Gulf of Mexico waters soon, but the Florida
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) advises fishers
there are some important new rules they need to know about this
year.
The FWC has made no changes to red snapper
regulations in Gulf state waters, but there are changes in
federal waters. Florida waters extend 9 nautical miles offshore
in the Gulf, and federal waters extend beyond state waters.
The recreational red snapper fishing season in
Florida waters in the Gulf opens on April 15, as usual, and the
season in Gulf federal waters opens on April 21, which also is
the same as in past years.
A new wrinkle is that a federal rule took effect
recently to reduce the harvest of red snapper temporarily while
a permanent plan to manage this overfished species is finalized.
The new federal rule says anglers in Gulf
federal waters still may keep the existing four-red-snapper
daily bag limit and the captain and crew of for-hire vessels may
continue to retain this limit for the first 11 days of the
season, from April 21 through May 1. However, beginning on May
2, the daily recreational bag limit for red snapper in Gulf
federal waters will be reduced from four fish to two per person,
and the captain and crew of for-hire vessels no longer will be
allowed to retain the recreational bag limit.
In Gulf state waters, the daily recreational bag
limit for red snapper will remain unchanged at four fish per
person, and the captain and crew of for-hire vessels still can
keep the recreational bag limit during the entire open season.
The state and federal recreational Gulf red
snapper fishing seasons still will close as usual on Nov. 1 this
year, and the minimum size limit for recreational red snapper
taken in both state and federal Gulf waters is still 16 inches
total length.
The FWC advises anglers that further changes to
Gulf red snapper regulations needed to help this fishery recover
from years of over-harvest are likely to be announced later this
year. |
