Emergency rule could temporarily put this fish back in play for anglers
A mini-season for red snapper appears to be in the works this fall for anglers in the South Atlantic region, including those on the South Carolina and North Carolina coasts.
On Monday, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council approved a request by NOAA Fisheries that would allow limited harvest of red snapper in the South Atlantic this fall.
The council requested an interim annual catch limit of 42,510 fish (recreational and commercial combined) for 2017 via emergency rule.
If the emergency rule is approved by NOAA Fisheries, a recreational mini-season for red snapper consisting of approximately 6-12 days over a period of three-day weekends would likely begin in late October.
The recreational bag limit would be 1 fish per person with no minimum size limit while commercial vessels would be allowed 75 pounds of red snapper per trip.
A decision on the request is upcoming and will be announced by NOAA Fisheries.
Gregg Holshouser: wholshouser@sc.rr.com
This story was originally published September 29, 2017 at 4:47 PM with the headline "Emergency rule could temporarily put this fish back in play for anglers."