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.