PONCE INLET, Fla. – Fishing charters and anglers along Florida’s coast are celebrating the first step in a big win in the long battle over Atlantic red snapper season. For years, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has kept Florida’s Atlantic red snapper season very limited — sometimes just two days or none at all.
Now, Florida is poised to take control and expand the season, hoping to boost the local economy.
Florida’s season could be over a month long if this plan goes through. Charter companies in Ponce Inlet say it would change the economy there.
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It’s not official yet, but this is the first green light in an almost two-decade-long fight, and the decision will be made soon.
“We’ve seen over the past several years we’ve experienced everything from no season at all to these mini seasons that are sometimes one, possibly two days,” Haley Stephens said.
Stephens, owner of Sea Spirit Deep Fishing Charter, has been helping track Atlantic red snapper stock off Volusia’s coast. She’s pushing for the state to take over the season, saying the current mini-season model isn’t working.
“They’re all going fishing on the same day. That creates safety challenges,” Stephens said.
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Stephens also believes NOAA’s data is outdated. The federal limits started in 2008 when stocks were low, but she says that’s changed.
“The states have come together, the fishermen have come together to say,’ Hey, what we’re seeing on the water isn’t reflective of the current management,’” Stephens said.
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Wednesday that NOAA is now taking public comments for 25 days before making a final call. If approved, Southeast states could set their own seasons.
Florida’s plan? A 39-day season from Memorial Day to the end of June, plus three fall weekends — a big boost for local businesses.
“It would be huge for businesses not only like my charter boat, but we would see our coastal economies benefit from it from the fuel docks, the tackle shops, the restaurants,” Stephens said.
Once comments close, NOAA will review the data and decide. This change would only affect charters and recreational fishing — commercial fishing would stay under federal rules.