May 23, 2013
The recreational red snapper fishing season will open at 12:01 a.m. April 21 in the Gulf of Mexico.
The National Marine Fisheries Service said that the limit is four fish per person at a time; each fish must be at least 16 inches long. The bag limit includes captain and crew of for-hire vessels.
The season will close at midnight Oct. 31, when officials expect the recreational quota of 4.47 million pounds to be full.
The commercial quota of 4.65 million pounds is divided into a spring and a fall season. Each is in turn divided into 10-day segments at the start of each month until the season's quota is filled.
About 1.9 million pounds are left in the commercial season's spring quota of 3.1 million pounds; the next ten-day segment begins at noon April 1.
