The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced the opening of a fall season for private recreational anglers and state charter operations in the Gulf of Mexico as follows:
– November 11-13
– November 25-27
Private recreational anglers may harvest red snapper in federal and state Gulf waters. However, state charter operations are limited to fishing for red snapper only in Gulf state waters.
The FWC will continue to monitor harvest relative to Florida’s available quota.
All anglers fishing from private recreational vessels must register as a state reef fish angler to target red snapper and various other reef fish in state and federal waters until they are exempt from fishing license requirements. Register for free at GoOutdoorsFlorida.com or by visiting anywhere you can purchase a license.
The extra days would not be possible without the State Reef Fish Survey. It was developed specifically to provide more robust data for the management of snapper and other reef fish and has allowed the FWC the opportunity to manage Gulf snapper in state and federal waters.
State reef fish anglers may be mailed a questionnaire about their trips as part of the survey. Please answer whether or not you fished or sent data using other methods.
For more information on the recreational snapper season, visit MyFWC.com/Fishing and click on “Saltwater Fishing”, and “Recreational Rules” and select “Snappers”.