The 2018 recreational red snapper season will begin on Friday, May 25 in both state and federal waters. The season will run 7 days a week with a daily bag limit of two fish per person and a 16-inch total length minimum size limit. The season will remain open until recreational landings approach or reach Louisiana’s annual private recreational allocation of 743,000 pounds of red snapper according to estimates from LA Creel.
State and federal seasons will run concurrently because federal fisheries managers approved the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries’ application for an Exempted Fishing Permit to manage the private recreational snapper season in state and federal waters in 2018 and 2019. Under the EFP, participating anglers will be allowed to fish red snapper in the state territorial seas and adjoining federal EEZ, from shore to 200 nautical miles, during the season set by the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission. NOAA Fisheries will continue to regulate federal for-hire charter vessels.
Those who opt to fish under the EFP also have the option to test electronic reporting via the ROLP smartphone application or mobile and desktop version of the ROLP website. If you opt in to voluntary electronic reporting, you must declare each red snapper trip prior to departure and report your catch once you return from each red snapper trip. LDWF hopes that voluntary use of electronic reporting will provide the department with a larger sample size than standard dockside and telephone sampling, improving the quality of recreational landings data to make future management recommendations. Electronic reporting could also provide landings data even faster than LA Creel. If you opt in to voluntary electronic reporting, you may also be contacted to participate in LA Creel.
Only resident and non-resident recreational anglers are eligible to fish under the EFP and are reminded of the following:
Must possess valid Louisiana Basic and Saltwater Recreational Fishing Licenses as well as a Recreational Offshore Landing Permit (free of charge) to participate.
Anglers can sign up via the ROLP website or smartphone application ( Google Play or iTunes ) to participate. Log into your ROLP account and click the link to register to fish for red snapper under the EFP. Once you have registered, save an electronic copy on your mobile device or print a copy of your ROLP indicating your EFP registration and carry it on your person along with applicable licenses while fishing under the EFP.
All EFP participants will be subject to periodic, random LA Creel dockside surveys and associated online and phone effort surveys, as has been the case since 2014 when LA Creel began. While these surveys are voluntary, we strongly urge your participation, as this will be the primary method for tracking harvest. The accuracy and reliability of harvest estimates depend on angler participation in LA Creel, so we need as many anglers as possible to complete both dockside and phone and email surveys.
For additional questions regarding the upcoming red snapper season, the Exempted Federal Fishing Permit, or voluntary electronic reporting, please reference our FAQs.