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Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced an agreement has been reached between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the five Gulf Coast states to extend the 2017 recreational red snapper season by 39 weekend days in the Gulf of Mexico for private recreational anglers.

This action, lauded by recreational fishermen across the country, reverses the Federal government’s recent trend to shorten the federal red snapper season. Most recently, regulators limited the window to just three days.

Under the jurisdiction of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council and the National Marine Fisheries Service within NOAA, what was once a six-month red snapper season with a four-fish bag limit for recreational anglers was reduced to a historically low three-day season with a two-fish bag limit in 2017. That three-day federal season ran from June 1 to June 3.

As a result of today’s action, red snapper season will reopen for private recreational anglers in the Gulf out to 200 miles every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, including Monday and Tuesday of the July Fourth holiday and the Monday of Labor Day. This 39-day season will begin Friday, June 16, in time for Father’s Day weekend and ends on Labor Day, September 4. State seasons will run congruently with the federal season.

Original content courtesy of Center for Sportfishing Policy, view full release here.