Florida seeks control of red snapper management
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently announced a plan to take over management of red snapper off the state’s Atlantic Coast. DeSantis and Roger Young, executive director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), sent a request to the Secretary of Commerce to implement an Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP).
The EFP calls for a 39-day recreational fishing season for red snapper in the south Atlantic for Florida anglers. The season will be divided into two segments. The first will run from Memorial Day weekend (May 22) through June 20. The second will run over multiple three-day weekends in October (Oct. 2-4, 9-11 and 16-18).
“The American Sportfishing Association (ASA) applauds the governor and FWC for taking this momentous step toward providing reasonable access to south Atlantic red snapper while promoting conservation and supporting our state’s $11.1 billion recreational fishing industry,” said Martha Guyas, southeast fisheries policy director for ASA. “We’ve witnessed the benefits of state management in the Gulf for years and we’re hopeful anglers and the industry will now experience these same benefits in the Atlantic for 2026 and beyond.”
The proposed 39-day season matches the initial season in the Gulf when Florida took over management in 2018. This year, the Gulf recreational red snapper season is 126 days, a testament to the state’s ability to manage access and conservation goals in tandem.
There are more red snapper in the south Atlantic now than in recent history. NOAA opened the recreational red snapper season for one day in 2024 and expanded it to two days in 2025.
The limited season is largely due to flawed estimates of recreational discards from the Marine Recreational Information Program, the tool NOAA uses to conduct stock assessments, which the agency acknowledges overestimates fishing effort by 30 to 40 percent. To address this issue, the EFP will provide red snapper stock data that can be used to inform future recreational fishing seasons.
