The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has approved exempted fishing permits (EFP) for the states of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, giving them the authority to manage the recreational red snapper fisheries in federal waters off their respective coastlines.
While state officials have welcomed the announcement as an opportunity to expand severely limited recreational red snapper seasons, commercial fishers and conservationists say the move is a blatant effort to bypass sustainable federal management and will lead to overfishing of South Atlantic red snapper, with the Southeastern Fisheries Association suing to block its implementation.
The granting of EFPs to the states is the latest incident in a long-simmering battle over management of the Southeast Atlantic red snapper fishery, which was listed as subject to overfishing in 2021. Though recreational anglers and state officials claim that the stock is far healthier than official estimates, NOAA Fisheries has strictly limited the recreational season to allow the fishery to recover, regularly limiting the recreational season to just a couple days. Commercial fishing has also been restricted by low catch limits, with the commercial sector allocated just under 30 percent of the small total allowable catch limit in recent years.
Last year, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina began pushing for EFPs that would allow them to bypass NOAA Fisheries’ management of the stock and vastly increase recreational fishing opportunities, despite concerns that increased fishing could lead to overfishing.
“NOAA’s own science supported only a two-day recreational fishing season in 2025. Approving seasons lasting up to two months without conservation protections puts at risk years of hard work by fishermen to rebuild South Atlantic red snapper. Expanded access without enforceable guardrails threatens both the health of the stock and the long-term stability of fishing communities along the coast of the South Atlantic,” Environmental Defense Fund Senior Director of Public Affairs Reggie Paros said in a release.
On 1 May, Trump announced that his administration had granted the EFPs.
“WE JUST DELIVERED A HUGE WIN for our Great Fishermen and Anglers in FLORIDA, GEORGIA, SOUTH CAROLINA, and NORTH CAROLINA! We have just officially approved ALL STATE PERMITS for the 2026 Red Snapper recreational season,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “For years, our Great Fishermen have been punished with VERY short federal fishing seasons despite RECORD HIGH fish populations and the States begging to oversee these permits. The incompetent Biden Administration tried to SHUT DOWN THE OCEANS to our Fishermen, entirely. We love and respect our Fishermen and, unlike the Democrats, will only do good for them. To all those who fish “Red Snapper” – TRUMP and NOAA are delivering for you. ENJOY!!”
The announcement was quickly welcomed by state officials.
“Thank you to President Trump for putting the power to conserve and manage this key fish population back where it belongs – in the hands of those who know the region best. Looking forward to Red Snapper season opening soon!” Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said in response.
The EFPs give the states authority over the recreational red snapper fisheries as data-gathering pilot programs, and they will be incentivized to show that their management can result in better data collection. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Coastal Resources Division (CRD) is doing so through the launch of the Georgia Red Snapper Project, which will expand the recreational season from a few days to two full months. However, the expansion comes with increased reporting requirements, with anglers forced to register trips before departure and report catches within 24 hours.
“This opportunity comes with a responsibility,” CRD Director Doug Haymans said in a release. “If anglers want longer, more reliable seasons, we need better data and that comes directly from them. Reporting through the app is how anglers can help shape the future of red snapper fishing in Georgia.”
If data collection improves under the pilot in 2026, CRD said the EFP could be extended for another two years. Georgia’s effort is being supported with a USD 300,000 (EUR 254,693) grant from Yamaha Rightwaters, a conservation initiative run by Yamaha Motors.
“The American Sportfishing Association (ASA) and our partners have been advocating for meaningful data collection and management improvements for South Atlantic red snapper for a long time,” ASA Southeast Fisheries Policy Director Martha Guyas said in a release. “These EFPs are a transformational step in which rebuilding success finally allows for reasonable recreational harvest opportunities and key data will be collected to inform future management strategies.”
Despite the warm welcome from angling groups and state officials, conservation groups were quick to point out that the EFPs were granted to bypass federal regulation and could lead to overfishing.
“These exempted fishing permits are an end run around sustainable management,” Ocean Conservancy Senior Director of Fish Conservation Meredith Moore said in a release. “Just last year, NOAA’s own analysis showed that a two-day recreational fishing season was needed to prevent overfishing. There is no doubt that these exemptions to allow months-long fishing seasons will lead to overfishing, while new, unproven data collection measures mean we likely won’t even realize the fish are declining until the damage is done.”
The Southeastern Fisheries Association, which is a Panama City, Florida, U.S.A.-based trade association, and a handful of commercial fishers have filed a lawsuit to stop the EFPs, claiming that overfishing by the recreational sector will reduce commercial fishers’ ability to harvest red snapper and hurt the stock in the long term.
“Current commercial trip limits for red snapper are extremely low, and these low trip limits are necessitated by the stock’s rebuilding plan. Because the challenged agency action will breach the Annual Catch Limit and inflict overfishing on South Atlantic red snapper, it will reduce stock abundance and biomass, and accordingly will set back the stock’s rebuilding plan. This means Plaintiffs will be regulated under more years of low red snapper trip limits than otherwise would be the case,” the lawsuit states. “There is no real dispute that the challenged Exempted Fishing Permits will result in overfishing of South Atlantic red snapper, with population impacts that ripple out for decades.”
