Judge ruling ends Florida's red snapper season before it even has a chance to begin

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]Well, a particular species of fish is certainly stirring the water in Florida.

[00:00:04]An extended red snapper season was supposed to start today, but a federal judge determined that the extended season is unlawful. Our Zack Wilcox has a look at the last-minute change that sent anglers reeling.

[00:00:16]As boaters bring their boats in at the Mayport boat ramp, they were expecting to have some red snapper on board.

[00:00:21]Instead, they're left trying to figure out if any snapper they catch should stay or go. The topic certainly has them hooked waiting for some direction. They can still fish. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced red snapper season on the Atlantic would extend to 39 days after it was just 2 days last year.

[00:00:37]However, right before it started, a judge sided with commercial fishing groups and determined it was unlawful after they raised concerns of overfishing and a lack of projections on the total anglers and snapper the extended season would lead to. The governor was in Jacksonville today and called the ruling disrespectful, acknowledging many people may have traveled for the holiday weekend specifically for the chance to land some red snapper. FWC for those who who are planned to go Memorial Day, they're they're going to say do do your state waters and and and do it do what you got to do within the context of the overall rule.

[00:01:11]>> [screaming] >> Charter boat captains I talked with said they reeled in plenty of snapper today, but they threw them all back not wanting to risk it with the legal uncertainty.

[00:01:18]>> Snapper are so abundant that they need to come a lot of them need to come out of the the fish the waters right now because there's too many. They're they're disrupting the other fish species because they're eating a lot of those fish species. Hopefully, they'll get it all worked out and we'll be able to get a season at some point. FWC shared that it informed its officers of the unpredictable nature of this whole situation, so they'll make sure to educate boaters in their jurisdictional waters. At Mayport Village, Zack Wilcox, First Coast News, on your side.