Recreational Gulf red snapper and South Fla. spotted seatrout seasons closed

Recreational Gulf red snapper and South Fla. spotted seatrout seasons closed

The recreational harvest seasons for red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico and spotted seatrout in South Florida closed on November 1. These closures occur each year to help rebuild overfished red snapper stocks in the Gulf and maintain the abundance of spotted seatrout in Florida waters.

The recreational harvest and possession of red snapper is prohibited beginning Nov. 1 in Gulf state waters. The recreational harvest of red snapper in Gulf federal waters closed on Aug. 5. The red snapper sport season is scheduled to reopen on April 15 in Gulf state waters and on June 1 in Gulf federal waters.

For spotted seatrout, all harvest and possession is prohibited from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31 in all waters south of the Flagler-Volusia county line in the Atlantic and south of a line running due west from the westernmost point of Fred Howard Park Causeway, which is about 1.17 miles south of the Pinellas-Pasco county line in the Gulf.

The recreational harvest of spotted seatrout will remain open until February in northeast and northwest Florida waters.