Anglers fishing for ways to survive snapper rules | pnj.com | Pensacola News Journal

Anglers fishing for ways to survive snapper rules | pnj.com | Pensacola News Journal: "Last week, the board of commissioners of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted 7-0 to shorten the red snapper season in state waters to June 1 through Sept. 30 to comply with new, stricter federal standards.

By falling in line with the federal guidelines, the hope of the commissioners was that the federal season would run the same length. The state season had been April 15 through Oct. 31.

The change was driven, in part, by a desire to help the state’s federally permitted for-hire sector get as many days out of the 2009 season as possible. Federally permitted vessels are bound to adhere to the strictest regulations — whether state or federal — in regard to the most popular reef fish in the northern Gulf of Mexico. That means if federal waters are closed to fishing for red snapper, charter boats are not allowed to bring home fish.

Red snapper is as much a fish as it is a cash cow. Charter boats from Orange Beach, Ala., to Panama City rely on customers who come to the coast to catch red snapper."