April 29, 2010
Contact: Lee Schlesinger, 850-487-0554

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) approved a rule on Thursday that makes the recreational harvest season for red snapper in Gulf of Mexico state waters consistent with the recently announced season in Gulf federal waters.  Florida state waters in the Gulf extend out to nine nautical miles from shore, and federal waters extend beyond that line.

This year's recreational harvest season for red snapper in Gulf state waters will be open from June 1 through July 23.  This is 22 days shorter than last year's season, because federal fisheries managers predict that if the season length remained the same as last year, the allowable harvest for red snapper would be exceeded due to the high level of recreational fishing effort in the Gulf.

Gulf red snapper stocks are rebuilding but are still considered to be undergoing overfishing, which means that red snapper are being taken at a rate greater than established management goals for this fishery.  Shortening the fishing season in Gulf state waters this year will help to avoid a harvest overrun and continue to rebuild red snapper populations so that longer red snapper fishing seasons will be possible in the future.

More information regarding red snapper fishing regulations is available online at My FWC.com/Rules; click on "Fishing - Saltwater."

Source: http://myfwc.com/NEWSROOM/10/statewide/News_10_X_SnapperSet.htm