Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) researchers are asking anglers to help them gather information about the important Atlantic red snapper fishery. The recreational red snapper season is open Aug. 23 through Aug. 25 (a Friday through Sunday) in south Atlantic federal waters. FWC researchers and volunteers will be out along Florida’s east coast during each day of the season, asking recreational fishers about their red snapper trips and their catch. Researchers will also collect biological samples of harvested fish, which will not affect the fillet, to help determine the age of each red snapper. Biologists sampled more than 2,000 red snapper during the federal opening in 2012 as a result of these efforts. Anglers’ survey responses and biological samples will give researchers valuable data about the red snapper fishery. Fisheries scientists could use this information in future population assessments. While the federal opening will have no size limit and a bag limit of one fish per person per day, in Florida state waters there is a 20-inch total length minimum size limit, in addition to a bag limit of two fish per person, per day. Vessels with red snapper smaller than the state’s minimum size limit must travel through state waters without stopping and have fishing gear stowed.
Posted on: Fri, 16 Aug 2013 16:05:43 +0000