Mississippi’s Department of Marine Resources has announced that the 2019 red snapper season will open for private recreational anglers and state for-hire vessels on Friday, May 24.
Private recreational anglers can fish out to 200 nautical miles; however, vessels with state for-hire permits are restricted to state territorial waters extending 9 nautical miles from the barrier islands.
The season will be open seven days a week and is scheduled to begin at 12:01 a.m. on May 24. It will run through Sept. 2 at 11:59 p.m. with a mid-season closure from July 8-28. This closure will help ensure the state’s annual quota is not met before Labor Day. The season will close if the assigned quotas, including the Gulf-wide quota, are reached.
Anglers will be allowed to keep two red snapper per day, with a 16-inch size minimum.
Due to an increase in the Gulf annual catch limit, Mississippi’s quota for 2019 is 151,584 pounds, with the quota for private recreational fishermen set at 148,507 pounds and the state for-hire quota set at 3,077 pounds. However, to account for the overage by for-hire vessels in 2018, the state for-hire allocation is 2,642 pounds.
All anglers are required to register their trips through MDMR’s Tails n’ Scales program, which is available through a smartphone app, a website and a call center. Anglers must create a profile and start a trip before going fishing for Red Snapper. They must have a trip number when they are out on the water and close out that trip before creating a new one. The Tails n’ Scales app is available in iTunes and Google Play, and the website is tailsnscales.org. Fishermen can call 228-697-5762 if they need to report any issues with the app.
