AL Red Snapper fishing season open ‘til Sept. 3

AL Red Snapper fishing season open ‘til Sept. 3

Alabama state waters and federal waters are now open for red snapper fishing for a potential 47-day season after being granted an Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to harvest 984,291 pounds of red snapper for private anglers.
Anglers are reminded of the following:
• The season will consist of weekends, Friday through Sunday until September 3, and the entire week of Independence Day (June 29 – July 8).
• The daily bag limit will be two red snapper per person, per day with a minimum size limit of 16 inches total length.
• Anglers over the age of 16 must have an Alabama saltwater fishing license. Alabama residents 65 or older or lifetime saltwater license holder must have a current saltwater angler registration (outdooralabama.com).
• Anglers under the age of 16 are not required to be licensed or have saltwater angler registration, but their catch must be included in a landing report.
• Each vessel landing red snapper is required by law to complete one landing report per vessel trip of their harvested red snapper through Snapper Check prior to removing the fish from the boat or the boat with the fish being removed from the water. All red snapper landed in Alabama are required to be reported regardless of the jurisdiction in which they were caught. A landing report may be submitted through Snapper Check in the new Outdoor AL app available online at outdooralabama.com.
• Paper reports and drop boxes are available at select coastal public boat ramps.
• Federally permitted for-hire vessels are not included in the Alabama EFP. They have their own 51-day season, which also started on June 1