Florida · Red snapper
Can you keep a red snapper in Florida?
Depends where you are
This one moves. FWC has changed the season for this species mid-year before, so treat the status below as of this morning and check again before you go.
gulf
Closed todayFlorida state waters, private recreational anglers. FWC has adjusted this season mid-year before after a quota overage, so confirm the day before you go. Federal Gulf waters can run a separate, shorter season set by NOAA. Next opening: September 1, 2026. The numbers above are what applies when it is open.
Also needed: State Reef Fish Angler designation, free, for private vessels
Counts inside the 10-fish snapper aggregate.
atlantic
Status unclearFWC's own pages disagree. Its dedicated season page lists a 2026 state management season but marks it temporarily postponed after a federal court ruling on May 21, 2026, while its general snapper table shows different size and bag figures. We are not going to guess which applies.
Also needed: State Reef Fish Angler designation plus a trip declaration in FWC's Atlantic Red Snapper Reporting System
This is the one rule on this page we will not state. Go to FWC directly before targeting Atlantic red snapper.
What we left out on purpose
- Atlantic red snapper is deliberately left unstated. FWC's dedicated season page and its general snapper table give different size and bag figures, and a federal court ruling on May 21, 2026 postponed the state management season. Publishing either number would be a guess.
- Gag grouper is in flux on both coasts: the Gulf is closed through August 31, 2026 after a quota overage, and the Atlantic and Monroe closed by executive order effective August 2, 2026 with no stated reopening. The dates here are what FWC published; the daily rebuild re-evaluates them.
- The Gulf red snapper weekend and holiday schedule was read from a summarised page fetch rather than a raw table. The dates are reproduced as published, but this is the entry most worth re-reading at the agency before a trip.
- Several species carry separate rules inside Biscayne National Park. Those figures are not captured here.
- Mutton snapper spawning-area closures around the Dry Tortugas are referenced in angling literature but did not appear on the FWC page read, so none is listed.
