Florida Atlantic red snapper season is Oct. 9–22 under FWC state management

Florida’s 2026 recreational Atlantic red snapper season runs October 9 through October 22, a 14-day window. It covers Atlantic state and federal waters for private anglers and for-hire captains, and it is open-access under a federal Exempted Fishing Permit.

The bag is one red snapper per person per day, with no minimum size. For-hire captain and crew may not keep a red snapper. On a declared red snapper trip, anglers must stay inside a 10-fish snapper-grouper aggregate. Only one of those fish can be a red snapper, and bottom fishing for reef fish stops once that aggregate is filled.

Private anglers need a saltwater fishing license unless they are exempt, plus the free State Reef Fish Angler designation. They have to declare the trip in FWC’s web-based Atlantic Red Snapper Reporting System before leaving the dock. For-hire boats must sign up for the free Atlantic For-Hire Reef Fish Registry. The season applies along Florida’s Atlantic coast from the Florida–Georgia line south to the Keys, and trips have to leave from and return to Florida.

FWC’s stock note on the season page says recent assessments no longer treat Atlantic red snapper as overfished or undergoing overfishing.

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

Source: FWC — Atlantic Recreational Red Snapper State Management Season.