June 1, 2014 — With all the fishing friends I have, it’s not surprising my Facebook page is awash with red right now, as in red snapper.
But red snapper season isn’t open yet, you say. Oh, but that’s the Red snapper season in federal waters opened today and ends at 12:01 a.m. June 10, the shortest red snapper season ever at only nine days.
The red snapper season in Florida, which has a 9-mile territorial waters boundary, opened on May 24, and plenty of anglers took advantage of that opening. Alabama’s territorial waters extend only 3 miles into the Gulf of Mexico.
So how can an Alabama angler legally catch red snapper in Florida waters? It gets a little tricky, especially for the boat captain.
Chris Blankenship, Director of the Alabama Marine Resources Division, said there are specific regulations that Alabama fishermen must follow to be in compliance with state and federal regulations.
“If people from Alabama are going to fish in Florida and catch red snapper and bring them back to Alabama, they need to stay in Florida waters until they get to 3 miles off the beach,” Blankenship said. “Then they can cut over into Alabama waters. We will allow them to possess fish in Alabama as long as they have an Alabama saltwater fishing license and a Florida saltwater fishing license.”
Therefore, if an Alabama boat is 9 miles south of, say, Gulf Breeze, Florida, the boat cannot take a course that is a straight line back to the Alabama port or boat ramp, because that course would take them into federal waters. And it doesn’t matter where the fish was caught. Possession is the key.