Florida Atlantic red snapper EFP season runs Oct. 9–22 with trip declarations

Florida’s Atlantic coast gets a 14-day recreational red snapper window under Exempted Fishing Permit 26-SERO-07. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says the open season is Oct. 9 through Oct. 22, 2026, in Atlantic state and federal waters from the Georgia line south through the Keys. The bag is one red snapper per person per day with no minimum size, and for-hire captain and crew may not keep a fish.

FWC stresses the choice between the 14-day EFP season and NOAA’s three-day federal weekend (Oct. 9–11). Anglers may do one or the other, not both. EFP participants must carry a copy of the permit and a unique trip declaration from the FWC reporting app, begin and end trips in Florida, and declare before leaving the dock. Private anglers need a saltwater license (unless exempt) plus the free State Reef Fish Angler designation; for-hire boats must be on the free Atlantic For-Hire Reef Fish Registry.

Declared EFP trips also test a 10-fish snapper-grouper aggregate bag — only one of which may be a red snapper — after which bottom fishing for reef fish must stop. Hook-and-line and spear are allowed; natural-bait trips use a single hook, with circle-hook rules north of 28° N. Descending devices or venting tools must be ready when fish show barotrauma. The EFP harvest limit is 83,720 fish; FWC and NMFS may later decide on a December second window.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: FWC Atlantic recreational red snapper state management page and FWC Executive Order 26-33 / EFP 26-SERO-07 (Sept. 21–22, 2026); also NOAA Fisheries Sept. 22 media release.