South Atlantic Fishery Management Council

Conserving and managing America's fisheries from three to 200 nautical miles off the coasts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.

Red Snapper Regulations

Red Snapper

Red Snapper

Lutjanus campechanus

AKA:

Mules, Sow Snapper, Spot Snappers (small)

Managed by:

SAFMC

Physical description:

Color pinkish red over entire body, whitish below; long triangular snout; anal fin sharply pointed; no dark lateral spot; red eye.

Biological description:

Found OFFSHORE on the continental shelf. Juveniles occur over sandy or mud bottoms; adults may live more than 20 years, and attain 35 pounds or more; sexual maturity attained at age 2; spawns June to October; feeds on crustaceans and fish.

See the fishery bulletin from NOAA Fisheries announcing the 2019 season - click here

Recreational

  • The recreational sector will open the second Friday in July if NOAA Fisheries announces that there will be a season. The season and number of days will likely be announced at the March Council Meeting.

 

  • Regulatory Remarks:
    • 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.
    • The sale of bag-limit caught snapper grouper species is prohibited.
    • Annual Catch Limit (ACL) - This species is managed under an ACL. See current information on Recreational ACLs from NOAA Fisheries.

Commercial

  • The commercial season will open the second Monday in July and remain open until December 31, 2020 unless the Annual Catch Limit has been met or is projected to be met.

 

  • 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:
    • 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.

If there is a 2020 recreational season, each of the states in the South Atlantic (NC, SC, GA, and FL) will collect data during. 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

Get a FREE Seaqualizer by taking this Best Practices Tutorial

 

The South Carolina Wildlife Federation, with guidance from South Atlantic Fishery Management Council staff, has developed a tutorial on best fishing practices when bottom fishing for snapper grouper species.  The best practices are based on recommendations from FishSmart.  The first 500 people to complete the tutorial will be given a free Seaqualizer (a tool used to release fish at specific depths to improve a fish’s chance of survival).

DOWNLOAD - Click Here!

Features include:

  • Chance to win a FREE Seaqualizer!
  • What is barotrauma?
  • How to identify barotrauma?
  • How to treat barotrauma?
  • And more!

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.

 

Plan Ahead
  • Expect to release fish on any given trip and prepare the equipment necessary to do so. Know your fishing regulations.
Avoidance
  • Develop skills to target the size and species you desire.
  • Catch & release is ok, but if catching too many fish that you cannot, or do not want to keep, change the depth that you are fishing, move to a different area, or use different bait.
Appropriate Gear
  • Use gear suited to the size of fish that you are trying to catch including the size of hooks that catch fish that you want but not others.
  • Use circle hooks where recommended and be aware that fishing techniques are different from “J” style hooks. For more information about the impact of hook types and South Atlantic hook regulations see the sections below.
Landing Fish
  • Don’t play fish to exhaustion.
  • Use line strength to minimize playing time.
  • Land the fish as quickly as possible.
  • If possible, leave them in the water rather than bringing them out of the water.
Handling Fish
  • Use knotless rubberized landing nets and rubberized gloves, to avoid removing the slime layer from their body.
  • Keep the fish horizontal; support the body when lifting large fish.
  • DON’T DROP THE FISH onto hard surfaces or long distances! This causes great harm.
Releasing Fish
  • If needed, use a release tool (dehookers, recompression tools) to minimize handling and successfully release your catch.
Time is of the essence!
  • Release fish as soon as practical and do not keep them out of the water longer than necessary.

 

 

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.

 

Assess condition while reeling in fish Signs of barotrauma include (any or all of the following):

  • Sluggish swimming.
  • “pop eye.”
  • stomach protruding from mouth.
  • Bloated mid-section.
  • Learn more about barotrauma in the section “What is Barotrauma” below.
  • If the fish appears normal release it without removing it from the water.
Recompression
  • Rapidly returning fish to depth (“recompression”) is the method of choice for returning barotrauma affected fish.
  • A variety of recompression tools are on the market, including descender devices, release weights, release baskets, and others.
  • Click the video here to see various recompression tools in action.

·       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyaxVhRmcDw
Return to Depth
  • Return fish to the depth of capture. If catching fish at very deep depths, returning them as deep as possible will dramatically improve survival.
Venting
  • If rapid descent is not possible, venting is another, but less preferable, option.
  • Use established guidelines for venting such as found at http://catchandrelease.org.
  • Note that the fish’s stomach may protrude from its mouth. Do NOT puncture the stomach.

 

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.

Hook-Type Lip or Jaw Potentially Lethal Location Percent Potentially Lethal
Non-offset circle 652 31 4.5%
Offset circle 1,245 96 7.2%
Non-offset J 141 16 10.2%
Offset J 743 170 18.6%
Other (Kahle, Treble) 19 3 13.6%

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 Angler Action 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.

MyFishCount was used during the 2017 & 2018 South Atlantic red snapper mini-seasons. Over 850 anglers made MyFishCount member profiles and over 700 trips were reported using the app. MyFishCount also allows anglers to report trips where anglers intended to fish but could not due to poor weather or other reasons.  To view the information reported by anglers through the MyFishCount website, click here.

Click Here for Red Snapper Regulatory Information from Previous Years

Menu