Proposals for state management of the South Atlantic red snapper fishery in federal waters set a collective harvest limit of 215,391 fish, roughly 10 times higher than the previous recreational harvest limit of 22,797 fish.
The proposals were submitted by the state governments of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina and would set month-long recreational seasons in the fall.
Recreational fishing groups and officials from the region have long contended that the red snapper population is far larger than official NOAA Fisheries estimates show and can, therefore, sustain much higher levels of fishing than currently allowed. The fishery was first designated as subject to overfishing in 2021, and regulators have since limited the recreational season in federal waters to just two days. The severely limited season has infuriated anglers, who have pressured the federal government to increase fishing opportunities.
“I can personally attest to the abundance and size of red snapper off the South Carolina coast. These fish are being encountered in numbers and sizes that I don’t think have ever been seen off our state before,” U.S. Representative Lee Hewitt (R-South Carolina) said in a letter to NOAA Fisheries. “It is time to end these unnecessary and potentially dangerous one- or two-day derby-style red snapper seasons by approving [the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources’] Exempted Fishing Permit.”
Last year, state officials and federal representatives began pressuring the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to allow them control of the federal fisheries, arguing that state management would be more effective and could generate better data to justify larger recreational harvests.
“In short, states – not the federal bureaucracy – are the best managers of their own natural resources. To better facilitate the transfer of fishery management authority to the states, we would encourage you to consider taking the following steps,” attorneys general for the states of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina said in a joint October 2025 letter to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick. “We ask you to restore balance to our federalist system and empower states to manage their own resources. We are confident that the results will speak for themselves.”
The federal government ultimately approved exempted fishing permits (EFP) for the four states on 1 May, and the states quickly announced expanded seasons.
However, those expanded seasons were canceled just a few weeks later by a federal judge responding to a lawsuit filed by a commercial fishing group. The Southeastern Fisheries Association claimed in the lawsuit that the expanded season would increase fishing pressure on the red snapper population and impede its recovery. The argument was also picked up by conservation groups.
“Opening the red snapper season for two months – when last year it was two days – is fast-tracking the crash of this species,” Ocean Conservancy Senior Director of Fish Conservation Meredith Moore said. “There’s just no way the stock can endure this level of fishing pressure so we can continue to fish for red snapper in the long term.”
The states ultimately asked NOAA Fisheries to cancel their EFPs, which the agency did on 26 June. However, three states have reapplied for EFPs. North Carolina did not submit a new application, instead requesting a separate recreational season in federal waters.
According to NOAA Fisheries, the revised EFPs “include additional information found lacking by the court and otherwise address issues where the court found the underlying record insufficient to support the agency's decisions.”
The individual applications include a harvest limit of 185,379 red snapper for Florida, a harvest limit of 10,759 red snapper for Georgia, and a harvest limit of 19,253 red snapper for South Carolina.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC), the difference between the harvest limits it has proposed and those accepted previously by federal regulators comes down to discards. NOAA Fisheries assumes 93 percent of the annual catch limit will be dead discards – virtually all of which will come from the recreational sector – and, therefore, removes them from the number of available fish before setting the 22,797-fish harvest limit. In its application, FWC claims that the previous plan overcalculates the number of dead discards by 215 percent. By readjusting NOAA Fisheries’ calculations with its own estimate of dead discards, FWC came to the conclusion that there should be 250,559 fish available for harvest in the South Atlantic red snapper season.
If approved, the states would be allowed to run recreational seasons in October, with additional fishing days in December if limits aren’t met.
Public comments on the applications will be accepted through 25 August.
The recreational fishing sector has also taken a jab at the commercial fishing sector after the Southeastern Fisheries Association lawsuit blocked its planned expanded summer seasons. In July, U.S. Representative Austin Scott (R-Georgia) introduced the South Atlantic Red Snapper Fair Access Act of 2026, which would ban commercial harvest and sale of South Atlantic red snapper from federal waters when the recreational season is closed.
“South Atlantic red snapper is an important public resource, and access to that resource should be managed fairly,” Scott said in a release. “If commercial fishing interests are concerned enough about the current condition of the red snapper fishery to support shutting down recreational access, commercial harvest and sale of that same stock from federal waters should be limited during the same closure. This bill is not about attacking commercial fishing. It is about making sure conservation burdens are shared fairly.”
The legislation has been backed by the American Sportfishing Association, the Center for Sportfishing Policy, Coastal Conservation Association, and the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation.
