Governor DeSantis Announces Record-Breaking Gulf Red Snapper Season

Ajouté : 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]our FWC exe executive director, Rep.

[00:00:04]Adam Bautana. Is this your last uh term or you have one one more? Okay. And then uh members of the Coastal Conservation Association and the American Sports Fishing Association. We've done a lot with the uh fishing and boating communities over the years uh in the state of Florida, but particularly in Southwest Florida. We had to do a lot right off the bat when I got elected. It was on the heels of a lot of red tide and these discharges from Lake Okachchobee. Really tough for tourism, tough for the economy. And so we launched a really serious effort at Everglades Restoration, building the C43, C44 reservoir. Um, and all that's been done um, under my uh, under my tenure. We did huge amounts of support for water quality. all these different things that are really important not just to the environment but Florida's economy and our way of life. And then of course we got whacked with Hurricane Ian in 2022 and we worked really hard to get people back on their feet on that. I know it's a difficult thing when you have a storm of that magnitude. Uh and but I would say that um if that had hit other parts of the country uh they would have had a much more difficult time getting back than what we did in Florida. And that's partially because we've got good resilience among the population. Uh we also have a lot of folks that stepped up and did the right job. So so that's been something that that's been a very very big deal.

[00:01:35]Obviously we did of course have Helen and Milton not as impactful as Ian was to this particular part of Florida but still had impacts. And last year we didn't have any hurricanes at all uh to hit the continental United States not just the state of Florida. Now, we're now going through we've we've had a real serious drought, not just in Florida, but but throughout the Southeast. And um we've got a lot of guys that have been working hard on that. We have our emergency management division working with our forestry division and the consu agriculture consumer services department who oversees the fire protection uh to to to beat back a lot of these things.

[00:02:15]They've done a great job. A lot of work there and a lot of work likely. Now the weather will turn at some point and you will start getting rainy. Uh but uh they say that when you have those types of droughts that that means the hurricane season is less active. We'll see, right?

[00:02:32]I mean they say all these things, right?

[00:02:33]They say last year they said it was going to be the worst season ever and we didn't have any. So you never know. But um if that were to be the case and we get through another year without having any type of tropical impacts, that'd be really really good for the state of Florida. So we'll see. We'll see on all that. But fishing, boating, fishing, we're number one in the country. It's not even really close with this. It's important to the economy. We're 31 billion dollar annually from the impact of recreational boating. That's a 53% increase from eight years ago. And I think part of that is some of the people that have gravitated to Florida, they didn't necessarily know a lot about fishing and boating, but it's kind of like when in Rome, do as the Romans do, so they would do it. And some of them didn't know how to drive the boats and we had problems and like Biscane Bay and some of these places around the state.

[00:03:31]But I think that I think that's working itself out. But the reality is there there was it was been a great period for man our boating manu boat manufacturers.

[00:03:41]I mean they've done amazing here in Florida. It's been good for the bait shops and the PE places that are selling all these different equipment. Of course we did a a holiday both the freedom summer sales tax holiday and our second amendment holiday. you know, that included the Second Amendment, no tax on bait, on tackle, on rods and reels up to 75 bucks. I mean, you name it, you if you were somebody that wanted to be out fishing, you would be able to save quite a bit of money because of the sales tax holiday, and we're very proud of doing that as well. Now, be able to go out and actually do it is important.

[00:04:21]We had state management of the Gulf red snapper, but we did not have state management of the Atlantic red snapper.

[00:04:30]So, we got to the point where in 2024, the feds were controlling the Atlantic and they authorized one day for recreational red snapper fishing. Meanwhile, in the Gulf, we were doing like 115, 120 days in 24. This last year, 2025, we did a record for state management. We had 128 days of red snapper in the Gulf of America. And that was way more than anyone thought possible. And the reason is people would say, well, bureaucrats would say there's no more fish. You can't let people fish more. They're not there. And then and when I I remember when I became governor, they'd say there's no more fish. And then I would talk to people that actually fish. They're like, I've never seen so many fish before. They're out there. Trust me, they're out there. And I said, you know, this is unacceptable.

[00:05:27]We know that there's fish. We know that we can have an expansion. And this data that these bureaucrats are saying is not accurate data. So, we were able to go we we compiled I told FWC let's got to get this done. And so, you've had a massive massive expansion of our ability to now do uh recreational red snapper fishing in the Gulf. And guess what has happened as we have expanded the days that people can go out and do to the most in history since we've had state management. Have the fish gone away or no? There the population is very healthy. There's a lot of fish in the sea and people have an ability to go do it. So, that's the same thing when we asked the Trump administration to let us do the Atlantic uh side as well. We know I talked to so many different people that are out there. They see these fish. They're there. And it's not just the Florida coast. You go on the coast of Georgia, you go on the coast of South Carolina, massive numbers of red snapper and the bureaucrats just refuse to acknowledge that. So, we work very closely uh with the Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnik, uh with the rest of the Trump administration, and this was a priority for us uh when they came in last year.

[00:06:49]Uh we said we were going to get it done.

[00:06:51]Uh and today I was able to announce down over in uh Melia Island on the east coast of Florida that we do have state management now and we are going to go from that one day in 2024 two days in 2025. The first day year of state management we'll get that up to 38 days for 2026. And that's just the beginning.

[00:07:13]You're going to see a lot more just like we did on the golf side. Now the golf side we've been at this a lot longer.

[00:07:19]We've been able to do it in a way that I think has been very very successful and people really appreciate being able to do this. You know, it's not just about the businesses that benefit, although they do, the folks that are involved in fishing. It the restaurants benefit, the hotels benefit, other other entertainment benefits because you have more pe people will plan trips to the Florida GF coast to do red snapper fishing. But it's also something that's important for families and for Florida's culture. This is things that people they take their their sons or daughters out to go and they fish and these are great memories and you'll have grandparents take grandkids and this and that and we've been able to rejuvenate that in the Gulf with our expanded season. It's something that I'm very very proud of.

[00:08:10]Well, we didn't want to rest on our laurels. And so, even though we've gone from uh when we broke a hundred days, that was like a really big deal. People were really, really happy about doing that. And then what we did this year, I mean, pretty much all the holidays we did Memorial Day last year, uh July 4th, uh the Christmas, Thanksgiving, I mean, you name it, we got it in there.

[00:08:35]Everyone was really happy. We were very ambitious with it. But I also said I was like, "All right, you know, you do that, you got to raise the bar a little higher. We got to do it again next year." So, I'm pleased to be able to announce that the 2026 Golf Red Snapper recreational season will be another record-breaking season and will last a record 140 days in 2026.

[00:09:08]This is by far the longest combined season that has been available for anglers in the history of Florida since state management began. 2026 golf red snapper summer summer season will open Memorial Day weekend from May 22nd and run consecutively until July 31st. This includes Father's Day and July 4th. Yet another way to celebrate America 250. We will again add fall fishing opportunities for Florida families and visitors with daily red snapper access from September 1st through October 4th before transitioning into a mix of three-day and two-day weekends through the end of the year and into early January. This includes ongoing holiday opportunities on the Thursday through Sunday of Thanksgiving and even red snapper on Christmas and New Year's Day for those who are so inclined.

[00:10:07]This is highly anticipated by flityians every year. It attracts anglers all across the country and we can enjoy this historic season thanks to the work of FWC, the state reef fish survey, which has gathered the data directly from anglers and has helped us show that we can manage this in a way that gives people opportunities. So, this has been a great boon for our golf communities.

[00:10:32]It's allowed a lot of Floridaians and visitors alike to enjoy the red snapper that our waters have to offer. I want to thank Roger. I want to thank FWC. I want to thank everybody who's been involved.

[00:10:44]This is going to be a great season. I know a lot of people are looking forward to it and I wish everybody happy fishing. Okay, Roger, you want to come up?

[00:10:54]Thank you, Governor. It is a absolute honor and privilege to be here today uh for you all to announce our golf uh recreational red snapper season. And governor, it's truly a great day to be in the Florida fishing capital of the world. And we'll say the boating capital of the world as well. What a beautiful marina. What a beautiful community. And it's great to be here to make this announcement. We want to thank you for your bold leadership and support of our fisheries and support of our fishermen and our businesses and the communities that rely on our fisheries up and down the Gulf of America coastline and on the Atlantic coastline. Now, too, we can be proud of the season that we're putting forth for our citizens. Under your leadership, Governor, we have consistently offered more days for our fishermen. And that's because you continue to fight. You fight for our freedoms. You fight for our fishermen.

[00:11:42]You fight for our resources. And we're proud to stand alongside you and fight with you for these rights. In addition, we're excited to have this season overlap with the historic season that we're announcing on the Atlantic coast as well. This the one that we announced this morning in Fernadina Beach. And I can't be thankful enough of our fisheries management team from FWC led by our director Jessica McCauley who does a fantastic job with her and her team analyzing the data. But keep sending in the uh the the research and the data that our fishermen turn in because it's important for our state reef fish surveys to provide that data to our scientists and our biologists to be able to make these decisions led by the bold leadership of our governor.

[00:12:25]It's important to do that. But this year, you'll not h not just have 127 days to do that. You'll have 140 days and a record number to do that. This is more time with your families, more time to get out there, enjoy those experiences, make those memories. That's what Florida fishing is all about. And Governor, under your leadership, we know that Florida is known as the free state of Florida, but now we will retain the title of the fishing capital of the world. So, thank you.

[00:12:59]All right. So, I've got these uh state of Florida snapper um hats. And so, does anyone want one?

[00:13:09]Who else?

[00:13:13]All right, those are from FWC. Got those made up. I don't know, maybe they'll do a merch store or something. I know a lot of people would probably uh like to do those. So, we thank everybody for doing this. And uh you we everyone will have I think really um a lot of fun particularly this summer. Okay. Do we got any questions back? Yes.

[00:13:40]>> Well, as I said from the beginning, this was a temporary facility. It was built to be temporary. If you if you've ever been there, you've seen it's temporary.

[00:13:48]We did not want to build a permanent facility at that airport. that was going to be broken down when there was no no longer a need. We did the facility in response to DHS being desperate for bed space because they didn't want to have to release illegal aliens back into our community who had been apprehended. And so that has been able to dramatically expand their footprint. And you're talking about be that people that have gone in, illegals that have gone in, 22,000 uh deported because of that facility that otherwise would have been released back into the state of Florida. So that saved lives.

[00:14:30]So that saved lives and it's been something that is that has been very effective. Now, since we did that, DHS has gotten a massive infusion of money.

[00:14:40]They have the wherewithal now to expand their ability to do the detentions. And at some point, if they tell us that they have what it takes so that if you have a criminal alien that our highway patrol picks up and gives it to DHS, that DHS is able to handle that without us being a having to do. Great. I'm all for that.

[00:15:02]Uh they have not told us that that is what is going to happen right now, though. And I know there's I think there's discussions about what your footprint would be. That's natural. They have a new secretary in from where it was. And so I know they're doing a lot of evaluations. I have uh not talked to the president about it, but I've talked to Tom Hman about it. He um does not want to relinquish the ability to use those beds was my understanding. And what I said was, "Look, we we're not personally. We're there to to help. They send, we stage, and then they take away when they're ready. If they stop sending to us, then we obviously would would break it down. But that's going to be a decision that they're going to have to make, and they may have more capacity to handle these folks. Now, that's great.

[00:15:49]That ultimately is how it should be. We have a supporting role in this, although Florida's done better than any other state by far because all of our law enforcement agencies are required to participate.

[00:16:02]And we had a big, you know, we had a big kurluffle at the beginning of 25 over this with the legislature because I thought it was very important that we do have that requirement because if you don't have that requirement, you know, it just takes one police uh uh chief to end up trying to cowtow and be like a Minnesota for us. Everybody knows the expectations. Everybody knows you cooperate and that's made it uh a lot better uh for everybody. And so so we'll see kind of how how that shakes out, but ultimately uh people that were saying at the beginning that they remember they would say this was going to oh you're going to have this this massive prison.

[00:16:40]It's going to all it's going to create development in the ever. I said no that's not going to happen. Uh they said oh it's going to have all kinds of uh runoff and we have all the sanitation cabined and hauled off every day. Then they could then they criticize you because it costs money to do that. Well, I'd rather pay the money than um and and keep everything clean. But all these different things people said, all of them, you know, are not not going to end up being true or have already been proven to be false. It was always meant to be a temporary facility. And um as long as they continue to um you know to pursue the the mandate that the president was elected on, how they do that, uh I think that there's different ways to to skin the cat, so to speak. So if they have more detention capacity and these are not needed. Now we also have the deportation depot in North Florida which has also done uh very very well and has been very very helpful. You know we opened that uh I think probably like in the middle of October couple weeks.

[00:17:38]It was right by Jacksonville in Baker County uh about two weeks before the Florida Georgia game. And I was accused of doing that to be able to put Georgia fans out. I was not doing that. That was that was not true. Uh but we were able to do it. We used an old wing of one of our facilities that wasn't being used for corrections and were able to get there. Now, that is a permanent facility that was no longer being used. If it's not necessary for the immigration, then, you know, potentially it would just go back to what its per previous state was where it wasn't being used. But alligator Alcatraz was always temporary.

[00:18:14]Uh there was never any desire or intent to keep that there on a permanent basis.

[00:18:19]And we always viewed it as an emergency measure to be able to help with this very important mandate. You know, some people are saying, "Oh, the midterms are coming up. You know, some are even talking about doing that they should try to do an amnesty for some illegals." Uh we can't do an amnesty uh here in this country. Uh that would have devastating consequences. I think it would start to fuel more illegal immigration. It's obviously not consistent with what Republicans have run on, but uh continuing the mission and making sure that we are enforcing the law, that we are taking people uh who are not authorized to be here and repatriating back. I think that's got to continue to be the mission. And and you hear people saying, "Oh, they should just stop doing it." I think if you stop doing it, I think you have big time problems motivating your base to come out in the midterms. And that's not the main reason you do. you do it because it's right. Uh but the people that say politically somehow it would be better, I think it would be just the opposite. I think it would be a big problem politically to walk away from the deportation mission.

[00:19:24]>> Yes.

[00:19:33]>> Well, I don't control that as you know whether they they control the budget. My sense is that they are going to do a budget. Uh I think it's it's to drag this out when there's really you know it would be one thing if like you know one house ran on one set of policies the other and they were clashing but we've been doing this for seven years very effectively. I mean think about where we were uh when I came until now. We've quadrupled the state's rainy day fund.

[00:20:01]Think about from the seven years I've been governor and all the debt Florida's accumulated for tax taxpayer supported debt. We've paid off more than 50% of it just in my seven years. For all of Florida's history, uh we were able to that save billions of dollars in interest and in principle. You look at the tax cuts. We've done more taxes cut in seven years than has ever been done over a similar period of time in Florida history. You look at the size of the budget. We have millions of more people in Florida than in New York. And New York's budget's over twice the size of our budget. New York City has a higher budget than the state of Florida and wait till he tries to take over the grocery stores. It's going to get a lot worse. So we've done this and while doing all and having the lowest amount of state spending per capita in the entire country and we've done all this we've done all this while also doing record by far record for Everglades restoration, water resources, water quality, massive investment in accelerating infrastructure projects.

[00:21:12]You guys got these ones in Southwest Florida that weren't even scheduled to start until next decade. We're now pushing forward. They're going to be delivered five to 10 years ahead of schedule. We're doing that all across the state. Uh you look at things like education. We did 1.38 uh billion dollars uh for teacher salaries last year. Never have done that much in the history of Florida. So we're doing all these like really big things, but we're doing it in a way that's very fiscally responsible. So, you know, I don't know what the main disagreements could be.

[00:21:43]Like, I'm not saying that there's going to be perfect agreement on everything, but there it should not be dragged out to where they're not being able to do it. And honestly, I mean, I think voters look and I think they lose confidence in how some of the folks up there are conducting themselves. And, you know, we saw in this special session, you know, we did the maps in the special session and um which, you know, I said we were going to do since last year. I called the did the proclamation in January, but then we added the proclamation for the AI bill of rights to protect particularly children. Uh we did the medical freedom which a lot of people had wanted. You know, the COVID stuff that I really stood against and and protected you guys from. None of that is permanent in Florida law. We need to make it permanent. If you don't have it permanent, uh you guys are going to be at the whim in future years. You never know what's going to happen. And that was things that people have been asking for for a long time. And um you know the House speaker said they can't do them because no member filed a bill uh on either of those issues. And I find that hard to believe that any of those members didn't want to file bills on that. But I think like we have people that are like these moms. We have activists who've been really working on these issues and to just have them oh no one filed the bill and just that doesn't sit well. People don't like that. They don't like when you treat them disrespectfully, uh especially when they elected you on a certain platform. So, I I just think it'd be a mistake to to drag it out anymore. Uh it should have been done in March. There's no reason why it couldn't have been done in March. And I think it is going to get done. Um and they're not going to be able to just come back and go on vacation if it's not done. It's got to get done in this period of time.

[00:23:26]And we will make it happen.

[00:23:30]>> Yeah. No. So, we're going to do a special session on property tax. The question is is when um when do we do that? So, we're consulting to make it convenient for everybody and um and that will be done. And I can tell you I know there have been a lot of different you know people have different views on it.

[00:23:47]But the one thing I know of talking to members is they know the voters want property tax on the ballot. And so I think you're going to get it done.

[00:23:56]ultimately the voters have to approve by 60% in November which I think they'll do but it's not none of these things are ever easy I mean it's really difficult right so um so I think that that'll happen so stay tuned we are going to we will have the session on that the question is just when as I said people say like January why haven't you done property tax yet they're voting on it in November okay why would I do it in January when they're not I mean it's just and and so why why not do it then because we understood Now, it it does have to be done by the summer, basically August 1st, in order to get on the ballot, and it will be done before then, but uh we are going to do a special session on that, and we'll we'll get something on for you guys for sure.

[00:24:43]>> Well, you know, the good thing about me is that everything I promised the voters, I've I've done, I've I've done.

[00:24:48]I followed through and I've done more than what I promised to do. And that that should be the standard.

[00:24:56]There's always more. I mean, I'm always looking for different things to do and uh it's just part of that's just how I I am. I mean, my view is is when you get into office, like most although a lot of people, you know, in these positions, they they kind of buy time, you know, my my view is what are you going to get out of this? How how can you use that to be able to bring about uh positive things for your constituents? And so the property tax is a big one that ultimately is is not ultimately in my hands or the legislaturator's hands.

[00:25:25]It's in the voters's hands once that gets on the ballot. But um yeah, I mean there's there's always things that that we're looking to do and we we use the levers uh that that are available us uh to be able to get it done and um but we always we're always thinking about ways to do it. You know, this this this map the redistricting I was I I called this last year. Okay. I I was I saw what the Supreme Court did with Klay. I said we're going to do it last year and we had been talking with uh the president of the Senate about when it would be uh uh convenient to do it. And in January, I issued that proclamation and they convened for special session and the Supreme Court hasn't issued this ruling.

[00:26:09]How can you do this? All this stuff. I was like, trust me. I was like, we're we're in the right here. And literally as they're debating the map on the Senate floor, the Supreme Court dropped the Klay decision which vindicated the special session because we had a district that violates that that provision that that four years ago people thought may not have violated.

[00:26:30]Now I think people see with what the court has done. So, so we did it and that came out just like clockwork and now look, we were able to to do um you know this this great map and that was just but we were thinking about this for a long time. It wasn't something that we just sprung on people. So, we'll continue to do that going forward on all these different issues. But I'll tell you, I get to travel around the country and and do different things from time to time. And there's a lot of people that uh that are are appreciative of what Florida's done. Even if they don't live here, even if they just visit here, even if they just have friends or family here, uh they had definitely look to Florida for leadership on a lot of these important issues. And that's something that that we can all be proud of. So, thanks everybody. God bless you.