Florida, Georgia and South Carolina Push Revised Red Snapper EFPs After Federal Closure

South Atlantic red snapper anglers may still get a shot at a real season this year, but it is tied to data, accountability and a fast public comment window.

Florida, Georgia and South Carolina have submitted revised exempted fishing permit applications for American red snapper. The move comes after a federal court blocked the planned recreational red snapper season in South Atlantic federal waters earlier this year.

The revised EFPs would allow recreational harvest in state and federal waters during October, with possible additional days in December if a state’s harvest limit has not been met. The applications are also built around mandatory electronic reporting and better data collection on effort, catch, discards, angler behavior and biological information.

That is the heart of the red snapper mess. Fishermen see fish. Managers argue over models. Courts step in. Seasons get cut down to nothing. If states can collect cleaner, faster, more useful information from private boats and for-hire trips, then future rules have a better chance of matching what is actually happening on the water.

NOAA is taking public comment on the revised EFPs through Aug. 25. If you fish the South Atlantic and want legal harvest defended, do not just complain at the ramp. Put a clear comment in the record and back the kind of management that counts fish without locking regular anglers out of the fishery.