We need your help to make sure that Texas gets its share of red snapper. This coastal fishing favorite – a tenacious fighter that is tasty on the table, is also very important for our local economies. Your input can help keep the population plentiful and available.
Beginning June 1, we're asking you (with the exception of party boat anglers*) to report your red snapper landings through a short online survey atwww.tpwd.texas.gov/snapper. At the end of each day's trip or soon afterwards, please submit basic information about the trip's total red snapper catch, the date, number of fish landed, etc. Only one person needs to report for the entire angling party. This data will be used in conjunction with current harvest monitoring programs, and will be useful in designing future harvest monitoring programs. It will also serve as an indicator of the health of the red snapper fishery off Texas shores.
Here's why your help is important: As you may know, management of the species continues to be challenging and controversial. Texas and the other four Gulf states, cooperatively with National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), manage red snapper in federal waters. Texas fishing regulations (less than 9 nautical miles from shore) may differ from federal regulations (greater than 9 nautical miles from shore). One of the key pieces of information used to inform the management plan is the total recreational harvest, that is, how many red snapper are landed by recreational anglers in a given year. Your reports will provide that important information.
*Anglers fishing from party boats are exempt from reporting because the captain reports for them. Party boats are generally larger boats where people pay per person, as opposed to paying a single fee (for one or more persons) for a guided trip.