U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) is thrilled that Georgia’s red snapper season will now run from July 1 to Aug. 31 following action on May 4 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries, which issued four exempted fishing permits to Southeastern states.
The exempted fishing permits (EFPs) — granted to Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina — authorize state-managed recreational harvest of red snapper in the South Atlantic for the 2026 season.
“As co-chair of the South Atlantic Red Snapper Task Force, I’m proud to have tirelessly advocated for this win and am thrilled to bring home a proper red snapper fishing season to Georgia’s outdoorsmen and women,” Rep. Carter said on Monday. “Representing over 100 miles of pristine coastline, I grew up understanding that Georgia’s anglers are the experts best equipped to set conservation and fishing policies that protect fish stocks and our way of life, not Washington bureaucrats.”
Citing information from the Congressional Sportsmen Foundation, Rep. Carter said red snapper populations are the healthiest in history, rendering the current burdensome federal policy restricting recreational fishing unnecessary.
According to his office, Georgia’s recreational fishing industry has long struggled under federal fisheries data that limit access and impose restrictions when state management is a common-sense approach that allows tailored conservation and fishing policies to fit local needs.
The EFP recipients are the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, and the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries.
Their EFPs will allow for a pilot test of state-specific management, exempting fishermen from certain federal regulations regarding the recreational red snapper season, according to NOAA Fisheries.