Alabama’s 2018 recreational red snapper season is coming to an abrupt close, wrapping up six weeks earlier than state officials had originally projected. The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources announced that private anglers and recreational boaters must end their red snapper fishing by Sunday, July 22, rather than continuing on weekends through Labor Day weekend as first expected. Charter boat captains and their passengers face an even tighter window, with their season ending a day earlier, on Saturday, July 21.
The early closure effectively cuts what had been projected as a 47-day season roughly in half. Starting July 23, anyone in Alabama waters will be prohibited from possessing red snapper, regardless of where the fish were actually caught. State waters extend nine miles out from the Alabama coastline, farther than most Gulf states, giving anglers here a longer reach before they cross into federally regulated waters.
Anglers who want to keep fishing for red snapper in federal waters still can, but the rules get complicated fast. Boats will need to come ashore in a state that still allows red snapper landings, follow that state’s specific regulations, and avoid transiting through Alabama waters with any red snapper on board. For many local boaters, that makes continuing to target the fish impractical once Alabama’s own season closes.
The shortened season stems from a broader shift in how the fishery is managed. After years of frustration over increasingly short federal seasons, Alabama secured permission in 2018 to manage its own red snapper fishery under a two-year Exempted Fishing Permit issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service. The arrangement, approved this past April, let the state set its own rules based on a self-imposed harvest quota of 984,291 pounds of red snapper for the year.
That new authority came with new responsibility, and this year it caught up with the state faster than expected. ADCNR Commissioner Chris Blankenship said anglers hit the water in bigger numbers than anticipated, and the fish they reeled in were noticeably larger than in past seasons, a combination that pushed the harvest rate to roughly double what it was in 2017. Because last year’s harvest data was used to estimate how long this year’s season could safely run, the surge in participation and fish size meant Alabama reached its quota well ahead of schedule.
“We’ve said from the beginning we may have to close early, or if we had some of that quota left over we could possibly extend the season,” Blankenship said. “The weather has been very good most every weekend throughout the season, and we’ve had a lot more participation this year. The average-size fish this year was also about two pounds heavier than last year, which is a sign of a healthy fishery.”
Blankenship framed the early closure as evidence the state’s approach is working as intended, even if it means a shorter season than anglers might prefer. He argued that Alabama’s system allows for more precise, real-time management than the federal process it replaced, which he said has often led to reduced fishing access over the years without a corresponding benefit to the fish population.
Central to that claim is Alabama’s Snapper Check program, established back in 2014, which requires anglers to file mandatory trip reports during the season. That real-time reporting was a key piece of the state’s Exempted Fishing Permit application and gives officials a much faster read on how quickly the harvest quota is being reached, compared with the slower federal data-collection process.
“Having our system in place allows us to ensure we don’t overfish the population, whereas in the past, the federal data-collection system has been so antiquated and slow to get results that sometimes the amount of fish would end up much higher than the quota,” Blankenship said. “This really shows the management system we have in place can work for us to sustainably manage our own snapper population, which was the point of the EFP.”
The season’s early end comes against the backdrop of a much bleaker outlook just a year earlier, when Alabama anglers were bracing for a federal season that could have lasted as little as three days, among the shortest on record. That 2017 season was ultimately extended through a compromise brokered by Gulf Coast lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne, who has long pushed for states to take a larger role in managing the fishery.
Despite the season wrapping up 24 fishing days sooner than initially projected, Byrne called the 2018 season a success overall. “Just a few years ago, we had a nine-day season, and due to the hard work of many, we were able to get 28 days this year,” Byrne said in a written statement. “The closing of the season now shows that states are responsible stewards of our natural resources, and I look forward to a successful 2019 season.”
Because the state’s Exempted Fishing Permit is built around a weight-based quota rather than a fixed number of days, officials say it’s likely that next year’s season length could look different depending on how quickly anglers reach the harvest target. ADCNR has not yet indicated how long the 2019 red snapper season in state waters might run, with that determination expected to come next spring after officials review this year’s full results.
For now, local charter operators and weekend anglers along the Alabama coast are adjusting their plans around the new July closing dates, with many hoping a strong showing in 2018 will translate into continued state control of the fishery, and perhaps a longer season, in the years ahead.