# Is the snapper season going to be extended?



## destincabo (Nov 4, 2007)

Has anyone heard if the red snapper season is going to extended?


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## Don'sBayou (Aug 26, 2009)

Their website(FWC) shows it closed from July 24th, Saturday, to May of next year.

So Friday is the last day.


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## Lyin Too (Aug 31, 2009)

My asshole is getting sore.


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## destincabo (Nov 4, 2007)

Yep I hear ya.This is ridiculous.


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## ReelFish (Jul 29, 2008)

*FWC update from Yesterday*

Directly from myfwc.com. Just came out the other day. 

There is still hope! (though I am not holding my breath)

News Release
July 21, 2010

Contact: Martha Bademan, 850-487-0554 

The recreational harvest season for red snapper in all waters of the Gulf of Mexico off Florida closes on July 24. This closure was established to limit the harvest of red snapper in the Gulf and help rebuild overfished stocks so anglers can enjoy better red snapper fishing in the future.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission increased its data collection efforts during this year's open season to estimate how many red snapper anglers in the Gulf took. If this information shows catch levels were less than this year's established recreational Gulf red snapper harvest quota due to fishing closures caused by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, it may be possible to reopen the recreational Gulf red snapper season this fall.


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## Tom Pace (Jun 4, 2008)

From the Southeast Fisheries Bulletin. 

At the request of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, NOAA Fisheries Service is developing rulemaking that would allow recreational fishing to reopen later in the year. A fishery closure of Gulf of Mexico federal waters because of the Deepwater Horizon/BP Oil Spill may have reduced fishing effort such that the recreational quota has not been filled. Should NOAA Fisheries Service make this determination, the recreational fishing season for red snapper would be reopened to allow the harvest of the remainder of the quota.

There is a little hope here..


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## destincabo (Nov 4, 2007)

You are right that is a glimmer of hope. Here is an online article from where the ol Governor is asking for the snapper season to be extended.


TALLAHASSEE — The federal government agreed to reopen more than 26,000 miles of the Gulf of Mexico for fishing near Florida today, and Gov. Charlie Crist said the state wants to extend the red snapper season.

Lane Stephens, a lobbyist for the Allied Sportsmen’s Associations of Florida and the International Game Fish Association, said he didn’t understand why the vast tract was closed about a month ago. He said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration cited possible movement of oil from BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster toward the area, but that winds are carrying the slick in the other direction.

“This is a start,” Stephens said, “but it does nothing for us up here.”

The reopened area is roughly in the middle of the Gulf below Florida. It starts about 100 miles south of the Panhandle, and about 100 miles west of Pasco County, and extends to a point just south of the Florida Keys.



Panama City charter-boat captain Bob Zales said recreational and commercial fishing operations have been “hamstrung” by the federal ban. Zales, president of the National Association of Charter Boat Operators and the Panama City Boatmen Association, said fishing in state waters couldn’t proceed if federal waters were closed.

The Florida red snapper season ends on Saturday but Crist NOAA that Florida would like to extend it. The state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has done studies indicating that catches are down considerably this year, due to closing of waters due to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, so there’s no danger of over-fishing the resource.

“The current closures place major limitations on access to red snapper fishing and would diminish the value of a supplemental season” in state waters, Crist wrote to NOAA. He said oil seen in state waters previously “has now moved out of the area.”

Zales said boat operators welcome Crist’s action. He said BP hired many idled boats in its “Vessels of Opportunity” program but that is being cut back now.

“When you’re looking at state waters and federal waters, we’re hamstrung,” said Zales. “If you fish in federal waters, you have to have federal permits and if federal waters are closed to certain species, if you’re a charter boat, you can’t fish for them anywhere.”

Zales said business is off 75 percent or more for sport fishing charter businesses in the area.

“Fortunately, BP has hired a number of the boats for the vessels-of-opportunity program to help with the clean up, but they’re deactivating a lot of them now,” he said. “The boats that have been deactivated need to go fishing.”


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