Seeing Red!
When the weather turns warm, and we edge into summer, many Gulf Coast anglers start to see red – red snapper, that is. With state recreational seasons opening across the Gulf between April and May, depending on the specific state season, and federal charter-for-hire vessels starting their 107-day season on June 1st, recreational anglers are primed to give chase to one of their favorite species. Red snapper are hard-fighting, fun to catch, and great table fare, so it only makes sense that these fish are one of the most sought-after reef fish by the recreational community.
Not that long ago, the federal season for recreational anglers had dwindled to a mere three days. The fishery seemed to be improving, yet the seasons were getting shorter, causing frustration among anglers and friction between state and federal fisheries managers. However, that frustration led to action and spawned state management of red snapper for recreational anglers. Under state management, each state has an allotted quota of fish to manage for private recreational anglers and can select bag limits, seasons and other measures that it wants to implement to land red snapper in that state from state and federal waters.
By most accounts, state management has been a great success. The process has allowed states to be forward-thinking with their management techniques and data collection and more responsive to the desires of anglers in each particular state. For example, Louisiana polled the angling community before the 2025 season to get a better sense of when anglers would like to start and stop the season, whether they would prefer weekends or a full week and whether they should keep more or less fish per trip. The poll was a great example of how a state can be nimble and responsive to its sportsmen while at the same time protecting the resource and maximizing access.
State management has also allowed for greater state collaboration. Louisiana developed a very successful LA Creel program to survey anglers, develop better data on effort among inshore and offshore fishermen and gauge landings of species, which has allowed regulators to make decisions on season closures or other regulatory measures in almost real time. Although Mississippi and Alabama also created programs for recreational harvest of red snapper that were highly touted (the Tails N’ Scales program in Mississippi and Snapper Check in Alabama), both states saw significant reductions in their quota of red snapper for private anglers, in large part because of how that data was being being used by federal managers. Now, Louisiana is sharing the LA Creel model with Mississippi and Alabama and assisting those states in developing similar programs. Both states are entering their second year of development and are confident that this collaboration will lead to much better data collection and consistent input across all three states. It will hopefully also lead to more red snapper available for Mississippi and Alabama anglers in the coming years.
Managing the red snapper fishery has been a struggle for managers and anglers alike over the years, but things are looking up across the coast. We hope everyone finds time to get on the water and see plenty of “red” this summer!