Mississippi’s Red Snapper Season Begins at Midnight
Recreational red snapper anglers along the Mississippi Coast are already gearing up for the state’s red snapper season.
The season officially starts at midnight. News 25’s Kristen Durand caught up with some excited anglers and outlines some changes about this year’s season.
Randall Broussard has been fishing red snapper since he can remember, and even though the season won’t open until midnight, he’s been pretty busy today. “It’ll be catching bait this afternoon and just getting everything and all the gear ready and all that type of stuff. Getting geared up to go and we’ll leave early in the morning about 4 o’clock,” said Broussard.
Broussard is one of thousands of licensed local recreational fishermen, grateful for the state’s extended season in the wake of the federal season closing only after ten days. “We catch the red snapper and we use them to feed our families, you know, we have get togethers and we’ll do anything from fry them to grill them on the grill to broiling them with some crabmeat,” Broussard said.
This year, recreational fishermen can drop their line in state waters seven days a week through October 31st, a change from last year which only allowed snapper fishing on weekends.
Melissa Scallan, the Department of Marine Resources public information officer, said, “But, this year, we felt like with the number of fish that were caught last year, we felt that we would be able to sustain that and not go over the quota and run through October.”
Last year, reporting your snapper fish was voluntary, this year it’s mandatory. The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources has an app called “Tails and Scales” that makes recording and registering your trip available at your fingertips.
“We need these numbers, so that when we do go to battle with the federal government that we have our numbers to exactly tell them what we caught,” said Broussard.
The bag limit is 2 red snapper per person and the fish must be at least 16 inches.
For more information, visit the red snapper page at DMR.MS.GOV.
The season officially starts at midnight. News 25’s Kristen Durand caught up with some excited anglers and outlines some changes about this year’s season.
Randall Broussard has been fishing red snapper since he can remember, and even though the season won’t open until midnight, he’s been pretty busy today. “It’ll be catching bait this afternoon and just getting everything and all the gear ready and all that type of stuff. Getting geared up to go and we’ll leave early in the morning about 4 o’clock,” said Broussard.
Broussard is one of thousands of licensed local recreational fishermen, grateful for the state’s extended season in the wake of the federal season closing only after ten days. “We catch the red snapper and we use them to feed our families, you know, we have get togethers and we’ll do anything from fry them to grill them on the grill to broiling them with some crabmeat,” Broussard said.
This year, recreational fishermen can drop their line in state waters seven days a week through October 31st, a change from last year which only allowed snapper fishing on weekends.
Melissa Scallan, the Department of Marine Resources public information officer, said, “But, this year, we felt like with the number of fish that were caught last year, we felt that we would be able to sustain that and not go over the quota and run through October.”
Last year, reporting your snapper fish was voluntary, this year it’s mandatory. The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources has an app called “Tails and Scales” that makes recording and registering your trip available at your fingertips.
“We need these numbers, so that when we do go to battle with the federal government that we have our numbers to exactly tell them what we caught,” said Broussard.
The bag limit is 2 red snapper per person and the fish must be at least 16 inches.
For more information, visit the red snapper page at DMR.MS.GOV.
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