Georgia red snapper season closes as anglers weigh new endorsement and reporting rules

Georgia’s recreational red snapper season was set to run for 14 days in October, closing October 22, but the exempted fishing permit that authorized the season was rescinded in late June following a federal court preliminary injunction. The catch reports anglers were expected to file during that window were intended to help determine whether they get another shot at the fish before the year ends. Anglers still have until Friday, October 30, to comment on two proposed rules that would add a $10 annual endorsement fee and mandatory trip reporting to their next day on the water.

The season had been planned under an NOAA permit in South Atlantic federal waters, with every trip required to begin and end at a Georgia landing. Anglers would have been limited to one red snapper per person per day, with no minimum size, and the statewide harvest cap for the two weeks was 4,859 fish. Captains and crew aboard for-hire charter boats had a zero-fish limit — under the permit, they could not keep red snapper at all.

Rep. Buddy Carter, the Republican whose 1st District covers coastal southeast Georgia, welcomed the planned two weeks as a gain for local anglers. “Georgia’s fishermen deserve greater access to the waters they know best, and this 14-day season is an important step forward,” Carter said in a statement.

A season with a second job

The two weeks were also designed as a pilot test of a state-led electronic reporting system. Participating private anglers would have had to work through an app called VESL: register, declare each trip before departure to receive a trip-authorization code, and file a report within 24 hours of leaving the dock. The reports would have had to list how many red snapper were caught, kept, and released — and whether each released fish was alive or dead.

Doug Haymans, director of the Coastal Resources Division, framed those reports as central to the project. The state tested the app because survey-based recreational catch estimates for red snapper can carry wide margins of error — a significant problem for a species anglers only occasionally encounter.

NOAA has said additional December fishing days could be possible if monitoring shows a state did not reach its harvest limit. The reports anglers were expected to file in October were meant to feed directly into that decision.

What the new rules would cost

Separately, the Coastal Resources Division is proposing changes to its saltwater fishing rules that would create a Reef/Migratory Fish Endorsement and add recreational angler reporting requirements. The proposal implements Senate Bill 420, which Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law on May 11, 2026.

The endorsement would take effect January 1, 2027, and cost $10 per year for Georgia residents and $20 for nonresidents. It would cover nine species: amberjack, black sea bass, cobia, dolphin, gag grouper, king mackerel, red porgy, red snapper, and Spanish mackerel.

Any licensed recreational angler landing one of those species in Georgia would need the endorsement, even if the fish was caught outside state waters. The proposal does not apply to shrimp. Some license holders would be exempt from the fee but would still need to carry the endorsement and an annual Saltwater Information Program permit.

Mandatory electronic catch reporting is planned to begin in 2028: individual anglers would file a report within 24 hours of finishing a trip, charter guides would report weekly, and fishing-pier operators monthly.

How to comment

Written public comments must be submitted by Friday, October 30, 2026 — roughly one week after the originally scheduled season closing date. Emailed comments must be received by 4:30 p.m. that day at [email protected]. Mailed comments must be postmarked by October 30 and sent to Julie Califf, Coastal Resources Division, One Conservation Way, Brunswick, GA 31520. The division asks that comments be legible, concise, and limited to the proposed rule changes.

After the window closes, the Board of Natural Resources is scheduled to consider the proposed rules and public comments on December 1, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. at Lake Blackshear Resort in Cordele, Georgia.

The $10 endorsement, the new reporting requirement, and the question of whether another snapper season opens all land on the same license-buying recreational anglers — the ones whose expected October reports were meant to be on file with the state, and who have a week to comment on the rules that would make that reporting permanent.