The Fight For Control Of An Iconic Florida Fish Scales Up

TALLAHASSEE, Florida — In the ruby red state of Florida, another crimson symbol often swims through Gov. Ron DeSantis’ remarks: red snapper.

The scarlet bottom-feeder is a prize among anglers, a coveted dish for residents and a goal for tourists hoping to experience a day of Sunshine State recreation. It’s also become part of the state’s cultural heritage, one DeSantis frequently revisits during press conferences around Florida.

But the yearslong battle over how to manage red snapper fisheries is spreading across the state, and has left some commercial fishers and environmental groups worried for the future of the beloved fish.

Florida has applied to take temporary control of the recreational red snapper fishery along the state’s Atlantic Coast through an exempted fishing permit, or EFP. If approved, the state would clinch another victory in its push to expand control of red snapper fisheries and expand access for recreational anglers.

“We know that we can do this effectively, and we know that this is something that could make a big difference for our recreational anglers, particularly in Northeast Florida,” DeSantis said during a November press conference announcing the state’s proposal.

Under the state’s EFP, Atlantic recreational anglers would be allowed to fish for red snapper 39 days this year — a massive spike compared to last year, when they were only allowed a two-day season. DeSantis said he’s spoken to President Donald Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick about the proposal, and both have expressed their support.

The EFP would last through 2028, and could make it easier for Florida to take permanent control over Atlantic recreational red snapper. NOAA Fisheries, the federal agency responsible for managing U.S. fisheries, is expected to hand down its decision by May 1.

In response to a list of questions, a spokesperson for DeSantis referred POLITICO to his November press conference and previous X posts about red snapper.

Recreational anglers have been overwhelmingly supportive of the EFP, which would ease the strict rules they’re subject to from federal regulators. NOAA Fisheries’ data is questionable, and the agency hasn’t expanded recreational fishing in the Atlantic despite signs that the stock is healthy, said Martha Guyas, the Southeast fisheries policy director at the American Sportfishing Association, a group that supports recreational fishing.

“You’ve had people that are frustrated that they’re seeing lots of red snapper out there, but they’re being forced to be thrown back,” Guyas said. “It’s like you’re wasting a fish.”

Expanding fishing seasons would reduce fishing pressure, Guyas said, and prevent anglers from putting boats on the water during potentially unsafe weather.

But not everyone is on board with the state’s program.

Some in the Atlantic Coast’s commercial fishing industry fear the impact on their livelihoods if the state wrests control of red snapper. Industry members say the state’s EFP doesn’t adequately predict the pressure an extended recreational season will put red snapper under and lacks guardrails to protect their industry.

“Fisheries have to be managed by science,” said Bob Zales, the executive director of the pro-commercial fishing Southeastern Fisheries Association. “And no matter how bad you want something for political impact and political pull or whatever to get something done, If it doesn’t work with science … you don’t need to go there.”

Commercial fishers support EFPs as a concept, but say the current language of the state’s proposal lacks accountability.

The Atlantic fishery has been historically overfished and has not yet been fully rebuilt, according to the latest assessment from NOAA Fisheries. Mike Merrifield, an Atlantic Coast seafood market owner who relies on harvests from commercial fishers, said he’s concerned an extensive recreational season could lead to overfishing — which would likely impact the commercial sector, too.

“If they impact the stock to the point where they say, ‘Well, now we’ve got to rebuild the fishery,’ then that’s going to impact our ability to harvest for the American consumer,” Merrifield said.

Evaluating whether overfishing is occurring would require a scientific assessment. But in the fight over red snapper, science is its own battle.

NOAA Fisheries’ red snapper data is highly contested, and is one of the primary reasons Florida pursued control of the Atlantic fishery. The state has said that the EFP will allow for better methods of data collection to serve as a new baseline for future fishery management.

Yet some environmental groups say the EFP falls outside of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, a federal benchmark for fisheries regulation. Jon Paul Brooker, the director of Florida conservation at the Ocean Conservancy, said the state’s proposal “all but ensures” overfishing.

“The best available science shows that those three-day seasons that we saw, while really difficult and a bitter pill to swallow, are probably what's most useful in ensuring that the stock ultimately gets rebuilt,” Brooker said.

NOAA Fisheries did not respond to a request for comment.

NOAA “appears to potentially delay action under the guise of ‘data’ collection,” EFP applicants wrote in a January letter signed by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Executive Director Roger Young. The letter, addressed to Lutnick, asked him to become directly involved in the application.

“If not, based on precedent, career NOAA staff will inevitably create a bureaucratic blockade at the behest of status-quo defending adversarial interests,” wrote the signees, which include members of FWC, the governor’s office, the assistant NOAA Fisheries administrator and recreational fishing representatives.

On Florida’s Gulf Coast, recreational red snapper fishing is already managed by the state. Before Florida implemented a Gulf-side temporary EFP in 2018, recreational season lengths hovered in the single digit days. Last year, recreational anglers enjoyed a 127-day season — the result of permanent state management.

DeSantis and recreational anglers view the state’s Gulf management as a resounding success, despite growing concerns from commercial fishers and environmental groups over the fishery’s health.

Since the state began permanently managing Gulf red snapper in 2020, commercial fishers say they have to travel further offshore to catch fish that weigh less and less.

John Sanchez, a Florida commercial representative on the Gulf Council, which advises NOAA Fisheries on federal fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico, said he’s heard “public testimony after public testimony” from concerned fishers. Yet reversing the state’s long recreational seasons would be difficult, he added.

“It’s a very political situation, but at some point, common sense again has to prevail,” Sanchez said. “You got to realize that on the current trajectory, you’re going to beat the stock down and have to undergo a painful rebuilding, and you’re going to get your hair cut anyway.”

Recent data collected from all five Gulf states shows an overall decline in the average weight of red snapper caught by private and charter-for-hire recreational fishers. Commercial representatives and environmental groups say it’s a clear indication that state management has begun to impact the fishery.

An FWC spokesperson said that neither Gulf nor Atlantic red snapper are undergoing overfishing.

Recreational fishing representatives said that if red snapper stocks on either coast are experiencing overfishing, they would be supportive of cutting back on season lengths.

“It’s not just recreational anglers who are out there harvesting red snappers, so commercial fishermen cannot just blame that on recreational anglers,” said Trip Aukeman, advocacy director at the pro-recreational fishing Coastal Conservation Association.

Gulf commercial fishers hope that the next major red snapper stock assessment, which is still under review, will reflect what they’ve been noticing in their days on the water. Atlantic-side fishers say they’ll support the state’s Atlantic EFP, as long as it doesn’t harm the fishery.

Even if it does, they may be hard-pressed for allies in Florida. Gary Jarvis, a commercial fisherman and the former mayor of fishing hot-spot Destin, said commercial fishers simply don’t have the political pull of recreational anglers.

“There’s no one at the state level that’s going to champion the commercial or charter guys against the governor,” Jarvis said. “Not in this state.”