For the first time in years, there’s good news on the red snapper fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico.
The National Marine Fisheries Service has extended the federal Red Snapper season for 2017. The season resumes this weekend, and will allow recreational red snapper fishing on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays until Labor Day. The extended season will also include Monday, July 3, and Tuesday, July 4. The change in policy is a result of calls from local fishing advocates and stakeholders, who asked for the federal season to be extended.
During the extended season, the current health and overall sustainability of the red snapper stock, which has flourished in recent years, would continue to be monitored by the federal government, according to officials.
As part of the deal brokered between five Gulf states and the federal government, all five Gulf states agreed that state waters would be closed when the federal season is closed, so there will be no snapper fishing in state waters out to 9 miles on Monday through Thursday this summer, except for the exempted holiday weekends.
