The National Marine Fisheries Service has opened public comment on revised red snapper permit applications from Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. The notice opens public comment during NMFS’s ongoing review of proposed 2026 recreational pilot programs, but it does not authorize fishing.
Key Facts
- NMFS received the three applications on July 10, 2026.
- Comments are due August 25, 2026, under docket NOAA-NMFS-2026-2245.
- The states request proposed harvest amounts totaling 215,391 red snapper.
- No permit has been issued through this notice, and no fishing season has been opened.
What the states propose
An exempted fishing permit allows NMFS to approve limited activity that federal fishery rules would otherwise prohibit. Each state seeks a permit for recreational fishing and related data collection in state and federal waters off its coast.
Florida requests a harvest limit of 185,379 fish. Georgia requests 10,759 fish, while South Carolina requests 19,253.
The proposals generally call for daily fishing during October, followed by a November closure while each state evaluates its landings. A state could add December fishing days if its proposed harvest limit remained available.
Florida proposes using its State Reef Fish Survey to estimate monthly private-angler effort and catch. It would also use a voluntary smartphone application to collect trip information.
Georgia and South Carolina propose electronic methods intended to count private-angler effort and catch. For-hire fishing data would come from existing federal surveys and reporting programs.
Participating anglers and charter or headboat operators would face permit, licensing, reporting and harvest conditions. The applications do not cover commercial red snapper harvest.
Why the applications were revised
NMFS issued permits to all four South Atlantic states in May 2026. A federal district court preliminarily halted activity under those permits on May 21, and NMFS rescinded them on June 26.
The court’s preliminary injunction was interim relief, not a final judgment resolving the lawsuit. The August notice says the three applicants added information intended to address deficiencies identified by the court.
North Carolina did not join the revised three-state applications. It instead requested a separate recreational red snapper season in federal waters.
What the notice does not decide
NMFS has not approved the proposed seasons or harvest limits. The agency also has not adopted the states’ claims about the expected benefits of their data systems.
The proposed October and December fishing opportunities remain conditional on NMFS issuing permits. Any permit would identify the federal rules covered by its exemption and the conditions participants must follow.
What happens next
Written comments are due August 25 through Regulations.gov docket NOAA-NMFS-2026-2245. NMFS will consider the applications and public comments before deciding whether to issue the permits.
The notice does not establish a decision date. All three proposed projects would end after December 31, 2026, if NMFS issues the requested permits.
