The Trump administration is taking steps toward shifting regulatory authority over red snapper in Atlantic Ocean federal waters to states, a move that some state leaders have argued is necessary to sustain their sportfishing economies.
NOAA Fisheries announced Wednesday it would open a 25-day comment period on “exempted fishing permits” for Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.
The permits would allow the states to “test new data collection methods and strategies for state-led management of the recreational red snapper fishery,” the agency said.
“Today’s announcement underscores NOAA’s dedication to innovative harvest strategies that represent a bold new paradigm for coastal prosperity, aligning sustainable fisheries management with the president’s charge to revitalize the economic core of our coastal regions,” NOAA Administrator Neil Jacobs said in a statement.
