Commercial Red Drum Season is Open

The Gulf Coast is officially snapped off from Red Snapper season, it ended last night at 11:59 p.m.
So what is allowed in fishermen’s nets? News 25’s Gina Tomlinson finds out what the seafood industry is nibbling on now.
As Gulf Coast fishermen wipe their hands off from red snapper season, there’s a new catch of the day and it’s a tasty one. The commercial season for red drum has officially casted off and local seafood stops like Kimball’s in the Pass Christian Harbor are reeling in a lot of business. Kimball’s Seafood owner Darlene Kimball said, “It was overwhelming. I sold out completely of all the red fish I got and then one guy came in yesterday afternoon with one more, so we have that one today to start out with.”
Kimball says the red drum season brings in some money for the Coast with fishermen filling their boats and buying bait such as longtime fisherman Chico Roseman, who News 25 caught at a Gulfport bait shop. Roseman says red drum fish are caught just about everywhere along the Coast. “Usually we catch them on cut bait which is just a fish that we hook and send out there.”
Jerry Forte Seafood is another seafood business in the Pass Harbor. Workers say anytime a new season opens it attracts customers and creates more selection. Tim Kulikowski with Jerry Forte Seafood said, “Buy them from commercial fishermen either wholesale or retail, it just means there’s constantly something going on which draws people down here.”
Jerry Forte sell their red fish at five dollars a pound. They just set them on the scale and that determines the price, but they say around this time a year oyster season is what really reels in the cash. “Oyster season is so popular. Everyone loves oysters and everyone loves Pass Christian oysters and everyone’s excited for it and we’re ready for it. We’re ready for a good season,” said Kimball.
DMR officials meet this week to determine when oyster season will begin.