24-17-CWS | April 19, 2024
BILOXI, Miss. – Mississippi’s Red Snapper season will open for private recreational anglers and state for-hire vessels at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, May 24, 2024. Anglers landing in Mississippi may harvest two Red Snapper per person per day with a 16-inch minimum size limit.
Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR) staff would like to remind anglers that they must follow the regulations of the state in which they are landing their catch. For those transiting or harvesting Red Snapper from a neighboring state’s territorial waters, all anglers onboard the vessel must also comply with that state’s licensing requirements.
MDMR staff would like to remind anglers that in addition to Tails n’ Scales requirements, each licensed angler on a vessel must possess valid Mississippi Recreational Offshore Landing Permit (MS-ROLP) for possession and landing of reef fish and Cobia in Mississippi. Full details on requirements and permit registration can be found at dmr.ms.gov/rolp/.
The MS-ROLP and saltwater fishing license information will feed into the newly developed MS-CREEL program which is modeled after Louisiana’s LA Creel and will survey anglers by phone and email regarding their fishing activity from the prior week. While the survey is not mandatory, it is intended to benefit the angler by generating precise estimates of the fishing effort and associated catch of Mississippi’s anglers.
The Mississippi season will be open seven days a week in both state and federal waters. The season in federal waters will close if the annual catch limit (ACL) for recreational fishermen is projected to be reached at any point after the season opens. It will also close if the Gulf-wide quota is reached.
Private recreational anglers may fish out to 200 nautical miles. Vessels with state for-hire permits can fish in state territorial waters, which is nine nautical miles south of the barrier islands.
Tails n’ Scales administrators can be contacted for assistance by email at snapper@dmr.ms.gov or by phone at (228) 325-1585.
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.
