2018 Red Snapper Season

Commercial

• The commercial sector will open for harvest upon publication of the final rule at 12:01 a.m., local time, on July 26, 2018, and will close at 11:59 p.m., local time, on December 31, 2018, unless the commercial annual catch limit is met or projected to be met before this date.
  • NOAA Fisheries will announce if the commercial sector needs to close before December 31, 2018.
  • The commercial annual catch limit will be 124,815 pounds whole weight (12,854 fish).
    • The commercial trip limit will be 75 pounds gutted weight. (trip limits are per day - if a vessel makes multiple trips per day, the 75lbs (gw) trip limit can only be harvested once per day
  • No minimum size limit

• Regulatory Remarks:
  • The commercial harvest of red snapper in federal waters of the South Atlantic requires a federal commercial snapper grouper permit. Permitted vessels must also adhere to coast guard requirements for commercial vessels. To learn more about how to acquire a permit, please visit the following link: http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/operations_management_information_services/constituency_services_branch/permits/permit_apps/index.html
  • Harvesters must also possess the required state/local business and/or land and sell licenses. Contact your state marine resource agency for further information:
    • North Carolina
    • South Carolina
    • Georgia
    • Florida
  • All species must be landed with head and fins intact.
  • Recreational and commercial fishermen are required to use dehooking tools when fishing for snapper grouper species.
  • The use of non-stainless steel circle hooks (offset or non-offset) is required for all species in the snapper grouper complex when using hook-and-line gear with natural baits in waters North of 28 degrees N. latitude.
  • After the commercial quota is met, all purchase and sale is prohibited and harvest and/or possession is limited to the recreational bag limit. This prohibition does not apply to fish harvested, landed, and sold prior to the quota being reached and held in cold storage by a dealer. Quotas are given in gutted weights.
  • Commercial snapper grouper vessels must have onboard NMFS approved sea turtle release gear and follow smalltooth sawfish release protocol. See the Handling and Release Protocol from NOAA Fisheries or call 727-824-5312.
  • Annual Catch Limit (ACL) – This species is managed under an ACL. See current information on Commercial ACLs (quotas) from NOAA Fisheries.

Each of the states in the South Atlantic (NC, SC, GA, and FL) will be increasing sampling efforts during the 2018 red snapper season. Please cooperate with these folks. To learn more about the sampling efforts that will be underway in your state, please see the following links:

• North Carolina
• South Carolina
• Georgia
• Florida

The following information was provided by FishSmart. For more best fishing practices visit, www.fishsmart.org. Follows these tips to ensure safe and responsible angling.

What are some best fishing practices for fish caught at deep depths?

The following information was provided by FishSmart. For more best fishing practices visit, www.fishsmart.org.

What is Barotrauma?

Fish experience barotrauma, a condition caused by a change in pressure, when a fish is rapidly reeled to the surface. The change in pressure causes air in the swimbladder to expand and prevents the fish from being able to swim back down to the bottom. The inflated swimbladder acts like a “floatie” for children and keeps the fish at the surface. Barotrauma can occur when fish are brought up from depths as shallow as 30 feet. It is most common in fish reeled up from greater than 90 feet and becomes more severe when reeled up from deeper depths. Descending devices can be used to return fish back to the bottom. Signs of barotrauma are displayed in the pictures below.

Pictures provided by Brendan Runde, Department of Applied Ecology, NC State University

A released red snapper showing signs of barotrauma is unable to swim back down to the bottom after being released. Credit: Brendan Runde, Department of Applied Ecology, NC State University

What is the impact of hook type on a fish?

Hook type can influence the survivorship of released fish because certain hooks types are more likely to hook fish in the jaw. A jaw hooked fish is more likely to survive when released than a fish hooked in the stomach, eye, or gill. Please note:

• Non-offset circle hooks are less likely to cause injury than other hook types.

Circle Hook

J Hook

Non-offset Circle Hook

Offset J Hook

Hooks were provided by Charleston Angler.

In a study by Bacheler and Buckel (2004), scientists investigated if the type of hook used while fishing impacted the number of grouper caught, the size of grouper, and the number of grouper injured by hooks. The scientists found that when circle hooks were used, injuries from hooks to groupers and other non-target species significantly decreased.

In another study, researchers looked at the amount of red snapper deaths due to hook related injuries. This information was developed by Sauls et al. in 2016 and presented in SEDAR 41. As displayed in the table below, non-offset circle hooks have the lowest chance of potentially lethal hooking.

The Hook Location is used to estimate release mortality.

Where is the circle hook regulation boundary?

Circle hooks are required when fishing for or possessing snapper grouper species in federal waters north of 28 degrees North. This is approximately located east of Juan Ponce Park in Melbourne Beach, Florida.

We are excited to announce an opportunity for fishermen to voluntarily report their catch through the MyFishCount website and smartphone app! 

After hearing the requests of fishermen across the region, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, in partnership with the Snook and Gamefish Foundation, created MyFishCount. MyFishCount is a recreational reporting app and website (MyFishCount.com) pilot project that allows recreational fishermen to report information about their trips and catches. Our hope is MyFishCount will complement current fishery monitoring programs and allow anglers to provide timely data to fishery scientists and managers.

The MyFishCount website was used during the 2017 South Atlantic red snapper mini-season. Over 350 anglers made MyFishCount member profiles and 341 trips were reported. The website also allowed anglers to report trips where anglers intended to fish but could not due to poor weather or other reasons. Anglers who reported that they could not fish because of poor weather conditions through MyFishCount helped in the decision to reopen the fishery for an additional weekend.  To view the information reported by anglers through the MyFishCount website, click here.