South Atlantic anglers can finally celebrate as recreational Red Snapper season is upon us. NOAA Fisheries announced that the federal season will run October 9 to 11, giving anglers three days to go after Red Snapper.
There’s also a longer fishing opportunity for some anglers in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. New Exempted Fishing Permits (EFPs) will allow eligible participants in those states to continue harvesting Red Snapper through October 22.
The announcement comes several months after a federal court paused an earlier plan for extended state-managed seasons.
When is the 2026 South Atlantic Red Snapper season?
The regular federal recreational Red Snapper season opens at 12:01 a.m. on October 9 and closes at 12:01 a.m. on October 12. In practical terms, that means anglers can fish on October 9, 10, and 11.
The federal rules are straightforward:
- Bag limit: one Red Snapper per person, per day
- Minimum size: none
That gives anglers one more fishing day than in 2025, when the federal season lasted two days.
What about the October 9 to 22 season?
This is where things get a little more complicated.
NOAA also approved new EFPs for Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. These permits give eligible anglers and for-hire operators in those states a chance to fish for Red Snapper from October 9 through October 22.
This doesn’t mean everyone in these three states automatically gets a two-week Red Snapper season. Anglers have to meet the requirements of their state’s EFP program to participate.
The permits cover fishing in both state and federal waters and are designed to let the three states test their own ways of collecting recreational fishing data and managing Red Snapper harvest.
Each state also has a maximum number of Red Snapper that can be harvested under its EFP:
- Florida: 83,720 fish
- Georgia: 4,859 fish
- South Carolina: 8,695 fish
NOAA expects the authorized harvest to be taken within the 14-day time frame. Anglers participating in an EFP can’t keep an additional Red Snapper under the regular federal season – their catch counts under their state’s EFP instead.
And there may be another opportunity later in the year. After the October season, NOAA and each state will review the harvest. If a state hasn’t reached its limit, its Red Snapper fishery may reopen for a second season in December 2026. However, this isn’t confirmed yet.
What happened to the Red Snapper season announced in May?
If this sounds familiar, that’s because NOAA already announced extended Red Snapper seasons earlier this year.
In May, NOAA issued EFPs to Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. The original plan would have given participating anglers in those states much longer Red Snapper seasons than the usual short federal opening.
Those plans didn’t go ahead. A federal court issued a preliminary injunction that stopped fishing under the EFPs, and NOAA later rescinded the permits.
The newly announced EFPs are a second, modified version designed to address the court’s decision. This time, they apply only to Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina – North Carolina isn’t included.
The separate three-day federal season on October 9 to 11 will still go ahead.
Who can fish under the extended EFP seasons?
The October 9 to 22 dates don’t apply automatically to every angler in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.
To fish under an EFP, private anglers and for-hire operators need to be registered participants and have the required state licenses and federal permits for their trip. Trips also need to start and finish at a landing location in the state where the participant is registered.
Each state sets its own EFP participation and reporting rules, so check with your state’s wildlife agency before heading out.
Have you been planning to fish South Atlantic Red Snapper this October? What do you think about the new announcement? Have you been aware of the previous changes? Hit the comment button below and let us know what you think.
The concept and outline of this article were created by people engaged by FishingBooker. Artificial intelligence tools were used to flesh out and reformat information into a blog article. Before being published, this article was edited and fact-checked by FishingBooker staff.
The post NEW 2026 Red Snapper Season Dates for the South Atlantic appeared first on FishingBooker Blog.
https://ift.tt/ebyBsp2
0 Comments
Enregistrer un commentaire