Saving Seafood

Georgia anglers embark on controversial red snapper season | Exclusive

October 16, 2026 — A controversial red snapper season currently underway off the coasts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina is the latest battle in the long-running conflict between commercial and recreational fishers over limited fish populations.

But this time, the 14-day season promises to yield something both sides want: data.

Red snapper in the Gulf and the South Atlantic were overfished in the 1990s, leading to tight federal limits on commercial and recreational harvests. Since 2008, Georgia anglers have been allowed to fish for red snapper for only a few days each year, if at all.

Now, NOAA Fisheries says red snapper populations have recovered enough to support an “experimental” season that will test a new Georgia system for reporting how many red snapper are caught—and thrown back—by recreational fishers.

Read the full article at Savannah Morning News

Fishermen challenge red snapper permits

October 7, 2026 — Six commercial fishing businesses and fishermen from Florida and North Carolina have filed a federal lawsuit challenging exempted fishing permits that authorize a 14-day recreational red snapper season in South Atlantic federal waters.

The lawsuit, Ariel Seafoods of Florida, Inc. v. Lutnick, was filed Oct. 5 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare three permits issued Sept. 21 to Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina illegal.

The permits authorize recreational red snapper harvest in federal waters off the three states from Oct. 9 through Oct. 22, with the possibility of a second season in December. NMFS has separately established a three-day federal season, Oct. 9-11, for anglers not participating under a state permit.

At the center of the dispute is how additional red snapper harvest is being allocated between the recreational and commercial sectors.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Fishermen challenge red snapper permits

October 6, 2026 — Six commercial fishing businesses and fishermen from Florida and North Carolina have filed a federal lawsuit challenging exempted fishing permits that authorize a 14-day recreational red snapper season in South Atlantic federal waters.

The lawsuit, Ariel Seafoods of Florida, Inc. v. Lutnick, was filed Oct. 5 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare three permits issued Sept. 21 to Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina illegal.

The permits authorize recreational red snapper harvest in federal waters off the three states from Oct. 9 through Oct. 22, with the possibility of a second season in December. NMFS has separately established a three-day federal season, Oct. 9-11, for anglers not participating under a state permit.

At the center of the dispute is how additional red snapper harvest is being allocated between the recreational and commercial sectors.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

WPRFMC to develop experimental fishing permit to collect information on commercial fishing in Papahānaumokuākea

September 28, 2026 — The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (WPRFMC) is developing an experimental fishing permit (EFP) for bottom fishing in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument to gather information supporting sustainable fishing efforts in the region.

The move is the latest of the council’s efforts to enable commercial fishing in several Pacific national marine monuments and sanctuaries, as directed by U.S. President Donald Trump. Since taking office for a second term in January 2025, Trump has pushed to reopen several large swaths of ocean that were closed to commercial fishing activity; in April 2025, he issued a proclamation to allow commercial fishing within Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Gulf Council recommends new pilots to test state management of recreational red snapper fishing

February 6, 2018 — The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council has recommended that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) approve pilots for all five Gulf States to test state management of recreational fishing for red snapper. The Council’s approval of the pilots, known as Exempted Fishing Permits or EFPs, came with the caveat that the decision by some states to include their federal charter/for-hire vessels (and the corresponding quota allocations that are associated with them) not result in shrinking the federal charter season for the rest of the states.

The following is a statement from Matt Tinning, Senior Director of Environmental Defense Fund’s US Oceans Program:

“EDF has long called for innovations in the way we manage recreational fishing in the Gulf of Mexico, and we applaud those who are considering new approaches. We support this two-year opportunity for the states to show that they can manage their private red snapper anglers under the conservation tenets of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

“It is important that federal charter boats who do not wish to participate are treated fairly. These captains have worked for years to stabilize their seasons and are now close to finishing development of new federal fishery management plans.

Read the full story at the Orlando Political Observer