The uniform season means 11 more days to catch the popular game fish off Texas, four more off Louisiana, two more off Florida, and six fewer days for Mississippi and Alabama anglers.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Federal regulators have set a 28-day recreational season for red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico, adding days in federal waters off Louisiana, Texas and Florida and cutting days off of Mississippi and Alabama.
The uniform season is required because a federal judge found that regulators illegally used an emergency rule to set different dates for different states.
It means 11 more days to catch the popular game fish off Texas, four more off Louisiana, two more off Florida, and six fewer days for Mississippi and Alabama anglers.
The season opened June 1 in federal waters and will close at 12:01 a.m. on June 29.
Most red snapper in the Gulf are caught in federal waters, which are much closer to shore off Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama than off Texas or Florida.