Florida FWC Commissioners Set 2012 Recreational Red Snapper Season in the Gulf
The 2012 recreational red snapper season in Gulf of Mexico state waters will be June 1 through July 10, a total of 40 days.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) set the 2012 season Wednesday, May 2, at the Commission meeting in Crystal River.
The state season is the same as the recently announced federal recreational red snapper season. The Commission also voted to keep a 40-day, June 1 through July 10 season regardless of whether the federal season is further shortened. Florida state waters in the Gulf extend out to nine nautical miles from shore; federal waters extend beyond that line.
Gulf red snapper stocks are rebuilding their numbers, but the stock needs higher numbers of older fish to be sustainable. Red snapper are estimated to live more than 50 years, but most fish in the current stock are only a few years old. Older fish are the key to rebuilding the population because older female red snapper produce more eggs than younger females. Shortening the fishing season in Gulf state waters and going consistent with the federal season will help continue to rebuild red snapper populations so that more red snapper fishing opportunities will be possible in the future.
“I think consistency is important,” said Commissioner Ron Bergeron. “The positive part is, looking at the recovery, we are going in the right direction in having long-term benefits for fishermen.”
More information about red snapper fishing is available online at MyFWC.com/Fishing.
The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission came into existence on July 1, 1999 - the result of a constitutional amendment approved in the 1998 General Election as part of the package proposed by the Constitution Revision Commission.
In the implementation of the Constitutional Amendment, the Florida Legislature combined all of the staff and Commissioners of the former Marine Fisheries Commission, elements of the Divisions of Marine Resources and Law Enforcement of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and all of the employees and Commissioners of the former Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission.
Five years later, after consulting stakeholders, employees and other interested parties, the FWC adopted a new internal structure to address complex conservation issues of the new century. The new structure focuses on programs, such as habitat management, that affect numerous species. It will focus on moving the decision-making process closer to the public and did not require any additional funding or additional positions.
