NOAA fisheries sets federal red snapper season by state

Red snapper fishermen in federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico will get a little longer season than they thought.

Last week NOAA fisheries announced the recreational season in federal waters for each state along the Gulf Coast.

The recreational season opens June 1st in federal waters, which begin nine nautical miles off of Florida and Texas and three nautical miles off of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

People fishing off Mississippi and Alabama, which set their state seasons and limits to match federal regulations, will have 34 days to catch red snapper in federal waters.

The other states all scheduled longer seasons, and Texas and Louisiana both let fishermen go beyond the federal limit of two red snapper a day.

Off of Florida, where state waters are open for 44 days starting June 1st with a two-fish bag limit, the season in federal waters will be 26 days.

In Texas the season will run for 17 days and in Louisiana it will be 24 days

NOAA fisheries said updated recreational landings data and new information from Louisiana and Texas prompted the extensions.

The overall red snapper quota has also been increased this year from 8 million pounds to nearly 8 and a a half million pounds.

The commercial quota is just over 4.3 million pounds and the recreational quota is 4.1 million pounds.

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