16-31-MMS| May 11, 2016
BILOXI, Miss. – Officials with the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources announced Wednesday that recreational anglers will be allowed to harvest Red Snapper in state waters from May 27 through Sept. 5.
Mississippi territorial waters will be open from 12:01 a.m. May 27 through 11:59 p.m. Sept. 5. The bag limit will be two Red Snapper per person with a minimum size of 16 inches. The announcement was made by Biological Coordinator Paul Mickle during the agency’s annual State of Our Coast conference.
The federal Red Snapper season for recreational anglers will be June 1-9. Federally permitted for-hire charter vessels are allowed to fish until July 17.
“We want recreational anglers to have every opportunity to fish for Red Snapper,” said MDMR Executive Director Jamie Miller. “Opening the state season from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend gives fishermen greater flexibility to plan trips and will provide our agency with additional landings data.”
Joe Jewell, director of MDMR’s Office of Marine Fisheries, agreed.
“The federal Red Snapper season will once again be one of the shortest on record,” he said. “We look forward to providing our recreational fishermen the extended opportunity to catch Red Snapper this year.”
In 2012 the state Legislature approved extending state waters to nine nautical miles for fisheries management, and the law went into effect July 1, 2013. The federal government in December 2015 also approved the extension of state waters to nine nautical miles.
Recreational anglers also are required to participate in MDMR’s reporting program, “Tails N’ Scales” through the smartphone App, the website or the call center.
The “Tails N’ Scales” App is available on iTunes and Google Play. Anglers also can go to tailsnscales.org to create a profile and plan a trip. They also can call 1-844-MSSNAPP (677-6277) to speak to a representative.
Once fishermen create a trip, they must close it out before creating a new one.
“This electronic reporting system provides fishery managers with accurate and timely data that will be used for better resource management,” said Matt Hill, director of MDMR’s Finfish Bureau.
The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources is dedicated to enhancing, protecting and conserving marine interests of the state by managing all marine life, public trust wetlands, adjacent uplands and waterfront areas to provide for the optimal commercial, recreational, educational and economic uses of these resources consistent with environmental concerns and social changes. Visit the DMR online at dmr.ms.gov.
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