Note: The extended red snapper season is on pause because of a May 21 federal injunction.
A red snapper and $250 isn’t a bad way to end a day on the water. Those days may be many for the Florida anglers who are celebrating the longest Atlantic red snapper season in more than 15 years.
A Florida Sea Grant-aided project led to 1,000 fish tagged last year, and there’s another thousand tagged red snapper swimming in federal South Atlantic waters presently.
The University of Florida, through the lab of Professor Will Patterson in the School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences, is estimating Atlantic red snapper population size that is independent of efforts of the stock assessment process pursued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
A component of this research is this large-scale tagging project, with $250 rewards, per fish with data aimed at improving the science and management of this iconic fishery.
“The overall goal is to estimate an abundance of U.S Atlantic red snapper independent of NOAA Fisheries and potentially reduce the uncertainty around management actions,” said project field lead Liam Kehoe.
When an angler pulls up a tagged red snapper, it’s important that once they clip the tag, they take photos of both sides of the tag and keep it. The tag has a phone number to call — 800-261-0762 — and on the other side has a unique identification number.
People with questions can go to flseagrant.org/atlantic-red-snapper-tag-form/. The science team thanks anglers in advance for doing their part to promote sound science and data collection for this iconic fish and resource.
ABOUT FLORIDA SEA GRANT
Hosted at the University of Florida, Florida Sea Grant is a partnership with the State University System of Florida, the State of Florida, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that supports research, education and outreach to conserve coastal resources and enhance economic opportunities throughout the state.
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