The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) announced that the state recreational red snapper season will close at 11:59 p.m. on December 15, 2016.
Preliminary estimates from the LA Creel survey indicate that the Department’s self-imposed harvest limit of 1,116,732 pounds of red snapper for the private and charter sectors of the recreational fishery has been harvested. Closing the season in state waters avoids an overrun of the overall Gulf of Mexico recreational quota and allows the red snapper stock to continue rebuilding. The season had previously re-opened, on weekends only, by action of the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission at its October 2016 meeting after LA Creel harvest data indicated there was remaining quota available for harvest.
The state red snapper season, which opened daily from January 8 through September 5 and October 7 through December 15 on weekends only (Friday through Sunday), allowed anglers an opportunity to harvest recreational red snapper for 272 days in Louisiana state waters.