RED fish off limit

[centurian]

]DMF Logo Banner
May 22, 2026

Preliminary decision in federal court pauses South Atlantic Red Snapper Exempted Fishing Permits
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Red Snapper South Atlantic Exempted Fishing Permits (EFP) for southeastern states, including North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, are no longer in effect until further order from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The recreational harvest of Red Snapper in the South Atlantic remains closed.

Originally, NOAA issued a Red Snapper EFP to the NC Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries and each of the three other southeastern states to explore whether states can collect near real-time data to monitor the Red Snapper recreational fishery.

For more information, go to the NOAA fisheries Southeast Region Fishery Bulletin here:

For More Information
Contact: Patricia Smith
Phone: 252-515-5500

Website: https://www.deq.nc.gov/dmf
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NCMarineFisheries
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/NC_DMF
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NC_DMF
P.O. Box 769, 3441 Arendell St., Morehead City N.C. 28557

[Calibogue]

You already been Mergi'ed...

[DRDUCK]

I still want to know were in the state waters you gonna catch a keeper.

[Saltydog235]

I still want to know were in the state waters you gonna catch a keeper.

From the shoreline to 3 miles out on every single rock pile or ripple in the sand on 7/1.

[Saltydog235]

PRESS RELEASE

Southeastern Fisheries Association, Inc.

Contact: Capt. Bob Zales, Executive Director,

[email protected]



For immediate release – May 21, 2026



Federal Court Halts Illegal South Atlantic Red Snapper Fishing Permits, Siding with Commercial Fishermen

Judge grants preliminary injunction blocking exempted fishing permits that would have caused overfishing, exceeded catch limits, and served to reallocate red snapper landings to the recreational sector, finding that commercial fishermen are likely to succeed on the merits of their legal claims.

Washington, D.C. – A federal district court in Washington today granted a preliminary injunction blocking “exempted fishing permits” issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) that would have dramatically expanded recreational red snapper fishing in federal waters off the South Atlantic coast. The court sided with a coalition including Southeastern Fisheries Association, commercial fishing businesses, and individual fishermen who argued the permits were unlawful. The court found Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of their claims, and that the permits must be halted while the case proceeds. The recreational fishing seasons authorized by the permits—which were set to open as early as May 22—may not go forward while the injunction is in effect.

NMFS issued the challenged permits at the beginning of this month to the states of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, purporting to authorize lengthy open seasons for recreational red snapper fishing. Florida was granted a 39-day season; the three other states were granted 62-day seasons. By comparison, the region-wide recreational red snapper season in 2025 lasted just two days—a length dictated by the stock’s annual catch limit.

The court found that NMFS had been presented with information indicating that recreational landings under the expanded seasons were likely to exceed the annual catch limit and trigger overfishing, yet NMFS did not address or consider these issues in any meaningful way before issuing the permits.

South Atlantic red snapper has been subject to repeated determinations of overfishing in recent decades, and is under an active rebuilding plan with a target recovery date of 2044. The primary driver of high fishing mortality has been recreational dead discards—red snapper killed when anglers fishing for other species bring them up and release them. Because of the high level of ongoing recreational dead discards, very little catch remains available for landings. As a result, the open season for recreational anglers has been very short and commercial fishermen have operated under extremely restrictive trip limits.

Plaintiffs—the Southeastern Fisheries Association, Slash Creek Waterworks, Inc., Strawberry, Inc., and individual commercial fishermen Jeffrey Oden, Jack Cox, Jr., and Antonio Giambanco—argued that the permits violated three core requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act: the mandate to prevent overfishing; the requirement that all federally managed fisheries be governed by annual catch limits; and the requirement that any allocation of fish between the recreational and commercial sectors be fair, equitable, and subject to proper analysis. Primarily evaluating the first two of these arguments, the court agreed that Plaintiffs are likely to prevail and accordingly issued a preliminary injunction.

The case will continue to proceed through summary judgment, when the merits will be argued fully and the court will issue a conclusive ruling in the case. Today’s order halts the permits while litigation is ongoing; it does not constitute a final resolution of the case.

“The Magnuson-Stevens Act provides a strong framework for federal fisheries management, and it requires decisions to be hammered out thoroughly and be grounded in science. There is no provision in the law that allows the agency to hand out exemptions from core requirements like preventing overfishing, and today the court recognized that. With this behind us, we look forward to working within the regular management process to improve management of South Atlantic red snapper for everyone.”

– Capt. Bob Zales, II, Executive Director, Southeastern Fisheries Association

“This is an important ruling for commercial fishermen and the South Atlantic commercial fishing industry. We work hard to put fresh, sustainable seafood on the Americans’ dinner plates, but over the years our industry has been slowly eroded down to a fraction of its former size. Those of us that are left are fighting—for the resource and for the communities that depend on it, as well as for the broader American public which loses out when domestically-caught seafood is no longer available. Today’s decision is a real milestone, which we hope will pave the way for more careful management going forward.”

– Jeffrey Oden, commercial fisherman, Hatteras, North Carolina, and co-owner of Slash Creek Waterworks, Inc.

"Commercial fishermen in the South Atlantic have accepted severe restrictions on red snapper for decades, in good faith reliance on the promise that the stock would rebuild. We have done a lot to provide accountability for our sector—kept logbooks, hosted observers, stayed within our trip limits—and we have shown up at council meetings year after year to participate in management. These permits were set to allow a massive amount of recreational fishing effort targeting red snapper, which was not going to be counted against the recreational sector’s catch limit. That is the opposite of accountability. Today the court put a stop to it, and we are grateful."

– Jack Cox, Jr., commercial fisherman from Morehead City, and sole owner of Strawberry, Inc.

Plaintiffs filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on May 5, 2026 (Case No. 26-cv-1533).

About Southeastern Fisheries Association: Founded in 1952, Florida, Southeastern Fisheries Association is one of the oldest and broadest commercial fishing industry associations in the United States. Its mission is to defend, protect, and enhance the commercial fishing industry in the southeastern United States, while maintaining healthy fish stocks for sustainable fishing by both present and future generations.

– End –


The commercial sector of fishing has a long history of trying to limit recreational catch limits and influence seasons. This is one more nail in their coffin. Plenty of ARS to go around but, they act like it's through their efforts alone that stocks have rebounded the way they have. The only difference now is that instead of dead discards, recreational anglers would be able to keep fish. Most fishermen I know will take care to put the undersize fish back and make it a sustainable fishery, heck the daily catch limit is relatively small at 1pp. Now, there should be plenty floating on the surface. They act like a common shared natural resource is for their own private benefit.

[Sasha and Abby]

follow the money

[JABIII]

follow the money

I follow the Bible.


Acts 10:13

And there came a voice to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”

[DRDUCK]

I CALL BULLSHIT on catching a GENUINE RED SNAPPER in state waters.

[Saltydog235]

I CALL BULLSHIT on catching a GENUINE RED SNAPPER in state waters.

I’ve caught bunches of them at North Inlet reef and Gtown nearshore. Most about 12-14”.

[scdiver]

20 years ago, agree with you DRDUCK.

They have moved in shallow. Really big ones are not far off the beach.

[loud1]

I still want to know were in the state waters you gonna catch a keeper.

I catch them all the time ��

[Whackumstackum]

I still want to know were in the state waters you gonna catch a keeper.

Why do you care?

[DRDUCK]

Why do you care?

Because after fishing offshore for 30+ years we never caught a genuine 3 miles inshore.

[carolinadrifter]

Fuck em.. catch fillet and release..

[Whackumstackum]

Because after fishing offshore for 30+ years we never caught a genuine 3 miles inshore.

I feel like the state waters limit is South Carolinas way of saying “get inshore before the federalies catch you”. But i hate bottom fishing so what would i know….

[Saltydog235]

I feel like the state waters limit is South Carolinas way of saying “get inshore before the federalies catch you”. But i hate bottom fishing so what would i know….

DNR is the enforcement arm of the Federales in SC from what I've seen. Kind of depends on which rabbit sheriff you get as to what you will or won't be charged with.

[DRDUCK]

If it is in fact closed you do not want to get caught with a Genuine Redsnapper at the 3 mile reef.

[JABIII]

They are inshore because they have eaten everything on the bottom they can eat offshore. It's why we catch them trolling ballyhoo in 300' feet of water. This ain't 1973...

[Saltydog235]

If it is in fact closed you do not want to get caught with a Genuine Redsnapper at the 3 mile reef.

SC has an open season within state waters with a creel limit of 2 fish 20" or greater. If you are inside the 3 mile boundary and caught it's your word against theirs. Setting some drifts within that line muddies the waters so to speak. Ask a GW and you aren't getting a straight answer.

[Saltydog235]

They are inshore because they have eaten everything on the bottom they can eat offshore. It's why we catch them trolling ballyhoo in 300' feet of water. This ain't 1973...

Everything but ring tails, bank bass and grunts.