Florida’s effort to shake up Atlantic red snapper management is no longer a solo act.
Last week, NOAA Fisheries announced it will accept public comment on Exempted Fishing Permit applications not only from Florida, but also from Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Together, those proposals would test whether states can do a better job collecting recreational harvest data than the feds—and whether that data could support longer, more realistic red snapper seasons in the South Atlantic.
That matters, because when the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission first asked anglers to weigh in directly with federal managers, it looked like a one-state challenge to the system. Now it looks more like a regional trial, with at least cautious federal approval to see what happens and maybe tamp down a full-blown rebellion.
What hasn’t changed is how unusual Florida’s approach has been.
State agencies routinely argue with federal managers behind closed doors—over stock assessments, survey methods, or season length. What they almost never do is openly ask their anglers to jump into the federal comment process and back a specific proposal.
Florida did exactly that. The state urged anglers to support its Atlantic red snapper EFP, which would allow Florida to run its own recreational data collection while opening the door to a proposed 39-day season in 2026.
The message was blunt and familiar to anyone who fishes offshore: red snapper are plentiful, they’re not overfished, and they’re not being overfished—yet federal seasons have been squeezed down to one or two days in recent years. Florida’s position is that the problem isn’t the fish, it’s how recreational harvest is estimated.
At the time, that sounded confrontational by federal standards. NOAA’s new announcement changes the setting, but not the significance of Florida’s move.
In its statement, NOAA confirmed it is formally reviewing EFP applications from four South Atlantic states as part of a coordinated effort to test new approaches to recreational management. The 25-day public comment period is just an early step, not an approval—but the tone is notably different from past years.
NOAA Administrator Neil Jacobs described the effort as a chance to explore “innovative harvest strategies” and more responsive management, framing the permits as pilot projects rather than a permanent handoff of authority.
That distinction matters. Federal managers have historically guarded centralized control over seasons and quotas, especially in mixed commercial-recreational fisheries like red snapper. Allowing states to run parallel systems, even temporarily, is a meaningful shift.
State managers—and many anglers—have long argued that federal recreational surveys overestimate harvest, triggering closures that don’t match what’s actually happening on the water. Anglers point to the same thing year after year: steady encounters with red snapper during closed seasons, high discard mortality, and frustration over fish they can catch but can’t keep.
Under Florida’s EFP, the state would collect harvest data using its own tools, with the goal of producing tighter, more timely estimates. The proposed 39-day season would provide anglers access while also serving as a real-world test of those methods.
NOAA hasn’t endorsed Florida’s numbers or its season length. But by opening the door to multiple state proposals, the agency is acknowledging the core problem: recreational management only works if the data are accurate and timely, and the current system has limits.
That language lines up closely with Florida’s stated goal—better data first, then seasons that reflect reality.
The addition of Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina changes the stakes. What began as a Florida frustration now looks like a regional experiment, one that’s harder to dismiss as a local complaint.
Public comments on the EFPs won’t just go through the Federal Register. They’ll also be taken during the March 2–6 meeting of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council. That’s another important wrinkle. Councils often act as buffers between states and NOAA, shaping recommendations while absorbing political pressure. Encouraging anglers to engage at that level expands public involvement—and scrutiny.
Any state-led pilot that promises longer seasons will draw close attention from conservation groups, commercial interests, and federal scientists worried about precedent. Florida appears to have decided that working quietly within the system hasn’t delivered meaningful access, and that a more public push was worth the risk.
NOAA’s willingness to entertain multiple state experiments suggests federal managers see value in testing alternatives, even if they’re not necessarily ready to commit to lasting change.
Whether that alignment holds—and whether it results in longer Atlantic red snapper seasons in 2026—will determine whether this moment is a short-term experiment or the start of a real shift in how recreational fisheries are managed.
But for now, things are looking a lot brighter for reef anglers on the southeast coast.
— Frank Sargeant
Frankmako1@gmail.com