The Donald Trump administration is expanding Atlantic Ocean access to red snapper fishing, a move Gov. Ron DeSantis has been angling for the last few years.
Red snapper seasons have been shortened in recent years amid concerns of scarcity. DeSantis and others have disputed those claims.
Now, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has “officially approved” Florida’s expanded permit for the Atlantic, effective this year, DeSantis said, allowing for a 39-day season that will be split up seasonally.
The Summer season begins on May 22 and runs through June. A Fall season includes three-day weekends in October. That will begin to match the more permissive rules in the Gulf of America that currently allow for a 120-day season.
“This will allow Florida to pair expanding fishing opportunities with stronger, more accurate data collection,” DeSantis said at a news conference in Fernandina Beach, predicting that the Atlantic season one day will mirror the generous rules in the Gulf.
DeSantis has pushed on this issue since he was in Congress. He noted that in 2025, anglers got just two days to fish outside of a commercial construct. And in 2024, it was just a one-day season.
DeSantis credits Trump’s administration with removing the “brick wall” the Joe Biden White House had against expanding access.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Executive Director Roger Young lauded the Governor for fighting “overreach” from the federal government and creating a longer season where people could plan and “wait for good weather days” to enjoy the expanded privilege here in the “fishing capital of the world.”
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