WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Thursday, Senator Ashley Moody joined co-chairs of the South Atlantic Red Snapper Task Force, U.S. Congressmen John H. Rutherford (FL-05), Buddy Carter (GA-01), Russell Fry (SC-07), and David Rouzer (NC-07), in sending a bicameral letter to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick in strong support of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina’s Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) applications that request approval to improve state data collection and implement state-led management of the recreational red snapper fishery in federal waters in the South Atlantic region.
Senator Moody and the co-chairs were joined by Senators Ted Budd (R-NC) and Rick Scott (R-FL), and Representatives Byron Donalds (FL-19), Nancy Mace (SC-01), Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-26), Randy Fine (FL-06), Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), Aaron Bean (FL-04), Daniel Webster (FL-11), Kat Cammack (FL-03), Cory Mills (FL-07), Mike Haridopolos (FL-08), Laurel Lee (FL-15), Rick Allen (GA-12), Neal Dunn (FL-02), Darren Soto (FL-02), Carlos Gimenez (FL-28), and Maria Salazar (FL-27).
Recently, Senator Moody and Rutherford led a state delegation letter to the Department of Commerce requesting longer seasons and state management of South Atlantic fisheries.
Florida’s EFP request includes assuming state management of red snapper in federal waters and a 39-day recreational red snapper season in the South Atlantic. Specifically, Florida requests an EFP that would authorize the state to test new management strategies and allow the 2026 recreational red snapper season to run continuously from May 22 (the Friday before Memorial Day) to June 20 and then reopen in the fall for 3-day fishing weekends (Friday-Sunday) on Oct. 2-4, 9-11, and 16-18.
Read the full letter HERE or below.
We, the undersigned Members of Congress representing the South Atlantic region, write to express our strong support for Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina’s Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) applications that request approval to improve state data collection efforts and implement state-led management of the recreational red snapper fishery in federal waters in the South Atlantic region.
For too long, recreational anglers in the South Atlantic have been largely shut out of red snapper harvest opportunities despite unprecedented growth and record abundance in this fishery. This is a sign that the current management system is out of step with the on-the-water reality. Despite fishery managers’ success rebuilding the stock for more than a decade, anglers continue to face one-or two-day seasons, a frustrating cycle that leaves them unable to access a healthy and abundant resource even after years of conservation and compliance.
On June 11, 2025, NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) finalized Amendment 59, establishing new measures to end and prevent overfishing. We thank you for rejecting the bottom closures that were proposed by the Biden Administration. Closing bottom fishing from December to February for 55 species off the east coast of Florida would have been devastating to our region’s economy. The drastic nature of that proposal underscores the need for significant changes to South Atlantic red snapper management to ensure reasonable harvest opportunities.
The South Atlantic states’ EFP requests align with President Trump’s April 2025 Executive Order on Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness, which directs the Department of Commerce and NOAA to expand the use of EFPs and modernize data collection so that fishery management decisions can respond to real-time conditions. Under these requested EFPs, states will develop and test reliable data collection programs that improve our understanding of the red snapper stock and expand fishing opportunities for anglers through more accurate, responsive management.
We have a proven model. During President Trump’s first term, his administration approved state management EFPs for red snapper in the Gulf, moving management decisions closer to the resource. That decision improved stock health, strengthened data collection, and led to longer, more predictable fishing seasons. In 2025, Florida had its longest season since state management began in the Gulf, at 126 days, which is a dramatic improvement over the 3 federal season days in 2017. That experience shows what happens when States are in the lead: with better data and more responsive management, anglers gain access, conservation is maintained, and coastal communities benefit. These are outcomes that Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina should be able to realize in the South Atlantic.
Now, during President Trump’s second term, there is an opportunity to extend the Gulf’s successful state-led red snapper management in the South Atlantic. The region’s states are ready to lead by applying proven methods to collect high-quality data, expand sustainable harvests, and support the coastal economies that depend on this fishery.
Mr. Secretary, we urge your department to work swiftly with Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina to approve these EFPs and authorize state-led management of red snapper in the South Atlantic beginning in 2026. We look forward to working with you to advance state management for the benefit of fishermen, conservation, and our coastal economy.
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