Florida Announces 78-day Snapper Season for 2016! Let’s follow suit Alabama!

The Alabama Snapper Season has yet to be announced but Alabama anglers are hopeful that it will resemble Florida’s 78 day season.

At its April 13 meeting in Jupiter, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) set the 2016 recreational red snapper season in Gulf of Mexico state waters. The 2016 season will open Saturdays and Sundays in May starting May 7. On May 28, the season will open continuously through July 10. Finally, the season will reopen for Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in September and October, and on Labor Day. This would provide for a 78-day season in Gulf state waters.

The private recreational angler red snapper season in Gulf federal waters has not yet been announced by NOAA Fisheries but is estimated to be 6 to 9 days. The federally-permitted charter boat and headboat season for federal waters is estimated to be 38 to 56 days. Both of these federal seasons are slated to open June 1.

Come on Alabama, let’s get on board!

There’s an intense standoff between state’s rights and the rights of the federal government occurring over red snapper regulations and it isn’t looking like this dispute will be settled any time soon.

The federal government claims that, according to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, any time there is over-fishing of a certain species, the federal government can step in and regulate the harvest of that fish. According to the fed’s, this is the case with Snapper in the Gulf of Mexico. In a nutshell, Alabama’s stand is the federal red snapper population estimates are wrong and that there is a healthy, plentiful supply of the species. The State has been increasing the habitat for red snapper by providing the largest artificial reef program in the nation and according to the Alabama Marine Resources Division at the Department of Conservation, the supply is much greater than NOAA’s Marine Fisheries indicate.

I’m just a recreational fisherman, not a marine biologist. I can only speak to the fact that every time that I go offshore fishing, we catch a boat load of snapper. During my two most recent fishing trips into the gulf, catching the targeted species proved difficult thanks to catching so many red snapper. In late March, we went off-shore to a spot that has produced nice amberjack for us in the past. Although we were able to catch our limit (1 per person), 9 out of 10 drops resulted in a snapper. The first Saturday in April, we went to the first set of oil rigs located off of Fort Morgan targeting Sheepshead. Sheepsheads usually cling to a structure higher up in the water column and feed on the attached barnacles. During late March/ early April on the rigs, the bite is solid, and it was no different this year. Fishing at a depth of only 10 feet, we caught a mess of Sheepshead, but every other fish was a snapper. Any angler that fishes off shore or near shore will attest that there is no snapper shortage.

Whether you believe the State’s case that that are plenty of snapper or the federal government’s case that the population is suffering, the fact is that this issue is bogged down in Washington, covered in red tape and entrenched in bureaucracy. The war over who controls the snapper management won’t be over anytime soon.

But there is something positive that Alabama can do in the mean time!

In 2015, the Federal Government granted Alabama a 10-day red snapper season from June 1-10. This was the shortest season on record thus far and all expect the 2016 season to be shorter, as little as 6 days. The State then set the Alabama snapper season (state waters only) for the month of July. Alabama recognized “state waters” up to 9 miles off shore while the federal government only recognized up to 3 miles, so the States response was “fish 3-9 miles at your own risk.” This wasn’t exactly a green light. A federal season of 10-day, two-snapper limit is detrimentally impacting Alabama’s economy and the Alabama snapper season of one month, up to 3 miles, wasn’t the response anglers were looking for. A short fishing season is devastating to the livelihoods for hundreds of people directly affected like charter captains, deck hands, bait & tackle shops, marinas, etc but the trickle down affect is detrimental to thousands more, negatively affecting tourism, lodging, retail, restaurants, service industry, and tax revenue. Red snapper fishing has a huge impact on the State’s economy and an even larger, more immediate economic impact on our only coastal cities of Orange Beach and Gulf Shores.

Since last season, progress has been made. Supported by Congressman Byrne, Senator Shelby was able to include legislation in the omnibus spending bill, which was passed in December of 2016, extending Alabama’s state waters from 3 miles to 9 miles. Now that Alabama’s state waters are recognized by the federal government to extend to 9 miles, there won’t be any more warnings to “fish at your own risk.” The next step forward is for Alabama to follow Florida’s lead and let anglers have a reasonable red snapper season. An Alabama snapper season of 78 days sounds good to me!

Learn more about Florida’s red snapper season at MyFWC.com/Fishing by clicking on “Saltwater,” “Recreational Regulations” and “Snappers.” Learn more about Alabama’s red snapper season, coordinates for the trolling reefs, and all public offshore and inshore public fishing reefs by going to the Outdoor Alabama website at www.outdooralabama.com and clicking on “Saltwater.”