Federal For-hire Red Snapper State Management

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06/01/2026 (UPDATE)

Our industry took pause at the last Gulf Council meeting when the State of Louisiana introduced new alternatives to the allocation action. Considering the Gulf Council staff came up with the alternatives from the average state reported landings since 2016. The alternatives introduced would increase Louisiana’s allocation on this action from 4.7 – 5.4% to 10.3 – 11.1% of the federal for-hire allocation, an over 100% increase! 

This would also reduce Florida’s reported landings from 48.8 – 53.1% of federal allocation to 36.7 – 38.9%, a decrease of 13+% under the new alternatives. 

If they (Louisiana) stand by their data and want to manage their federal for-hire vessels, why would they need to increase their own state’s reported allocation by over 100%? 

In fact, this essentially shift the majority of federal for-hire red snapper allocation from east of the Mississippi River to the western side. The staff’s calculations from the states reported data Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi harvests 76% and Louisiana and Texas harvests 24%. The new alternatives added would shift that to 64% for Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi, and 35% Louisiana. 

With the State of Florida being the only state that would lose federal for-hire allocation by 13.2%. Alabama and Mississippi would have a very small nominal increase with Louisiana gaining over 100% and Texas would gain 31.5% in federal for-hire allocation. They are attempting to do this as the federal for-hire permit distribution, over the last 10 years, there has experienced a 20-30% reduction in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas permits while permits have increased in Florida and Alabama. 

This has really shown their hand on what this management action actually does which is shift fish from where anglers actually catch fish to where these states want them to catch fish. This takes from historically state reported data and creates inequity in anglers and permit holders. 

Capt. Jim Green

President

Charter Fishermans Association

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01/01/2026

It is already a challenging trade being a professional for-hire fisherman or woman. It is even more challenging when you have to continue to fight for your right to do it. It has been a decade since the implementation of Amendment 40 “Sector Separation” in May of 2015. It has been 5 years now since the implementation of Amendment 50 “State Management” in February of 2020. Everything is ticking along the vast majority of everyone is happy and bam… We want control of the entire recreational fishery. 

At the November 2025 Gulf Council meeting there was a presentation titled “Delegation of Management of Federal For-Hire Vessels to the Gulf States for Red Snapper”. In this presentation the council members were shown the different decisions that would need to be made for this change in management. Things like the purpose and need for the amendment and what it would achieve? How will allocation be distributed amongst the states? Would the allocations be combined with the allocation from Amendment 50 or remain separate? What would the states be delegated… fishing seasons, bag limits, size limits, all of them? There were also questions about enforcement and regulatory challenges along with concern about how for-hire data would be collected and the challenges with calibration. With some states like Alabama and Mississippi currently reworking theirs. To all these points of concerns, the Gulf Council voted to move forward a draft document to further explore state management of the federal for-hire component.

We are not discussing this because there is a problem with the fishery management plan’s standing legally or whether it is failing at a regulatory issue. We are discussing this because the State of Louisiana and their charter fleet leadership want to assume control of the allocation. The questions that are asked in the presentation shows how big of a problem this will be rather quickly. Louisiana permit holders make up 8.5% of the federal for-hire fleet (114 of 1260 permits). Like fifteen years ago, their federal for-hire permits holders experienced again being a pawn in the Red Snapper saga. The state opened the season two months earlier than the permitted vessels could fish and raised their bag limit from 2 to 4. Effectively crippling them into needing change. And that change is this document…

The reason you saw instant success with Sector Separation was the reduction of uncertainty it changed the game. It created the universe. This allocation and this amount of effort and you have identified your universe. Then you also have your data collection pool identified. The success of sector separation is simply the removal of uncertainty. It is that easy. And we have just continued to gain access to the fishery either in season length or in the reduction in the buffer because of the lack of uncertainty. We do not want to change that… we do not want to disrupt the single most important management tool that has ever been implemented for the federal for-hire red snapper fishery.

The are many concerns and issues that will come with addressing the questions in the presentation. The federal for-hire industry has gone through a number of endeavors over the years and it’s all in the effort to bring long-term stability to our industry. To ensure our anglers have an access point which has not always been the case. Fifteen years ago, our industry was smack dab in the middle of a clash between the Gulf states and NMFS. During the first few years of the Red Snapper rebuilding plan the agency set low allocations annually and the states would combat this with non-compliant state seasons. Doing this had a huge negative effect on federal for-hire fishermen and our anglers because however long they over ran the federal season it would directly take it off the federal for-hire season since they are both recreational anglers. 

We showed up in force to FWC meetings and broadline begged for compliant or limited non-compliant seasons at testimony. In some places this caused clashes between longtime friends with access reduced selectively. It was a bad place to be where everyone was fighting for every fish they could get. Even after all the meetings and testimony the states each year continued to expand their seasons. It is a tough position to be in when you feel like your industry did not have any representation. State politics is not what you want in a federal fishery. 

It became very clear as we had our access steadily removed that we had different needs than the private recreational angler. That did not change for the next few years we were reduced all the way down to 9 days. The struggle did not stop till Amendment 40 was passed and implemented. Setting aside a reduced amount of historic access for our anglers. 

What they are proposing will undo success. By doing this it will take a single federal permit and potentially break it up into 5 different groups, where there could be 2 to 6 governing bodies (5 Gulf states and the agency), permits could have different seasons lengths and bag limits, there could potentially be 5 or 6 data collection programs that would all have to be calibrated to be used together. Then vessels would have to be able to move around since it’s a federal permit so they will be able to switch areas every year, and states can decide whether they want to opt in or opt out. All of that… every bit of that creates uncertainty. 

When Amendment 40 was created there was multiple federal cases brought against the agency. In 2017 the CCA filed a suit against the US Secretary of Commerce, NOAA, and NMFS trying to nullify Amendment 40. The Charter Fishermans Association (CFA) filed an amicus brief supporting Amendment 40 as an intervenor in the case. They fought us the whole way designing it, fought us for votes to pass it, fought the comment period before implementation, sued to remove it and lost, appealed it and lost, and now after a decade of success they are coming back after it. Make no mistake this is a push by CCA and those in that camp to fracture Amendment 40. Some may feel it’s not a big deal. But I can tell you as someone who experienced the Red Snapper saga for the last 44 years of my life this and have been fully involved for the last 20 years in Gulf and National fisheries management, science, and politics this is a huge issue…

This is as big a deal as getting Amendment 40 passed in the first place. This has implications on the future of Amendment 40, permit values, federal for-hire access, federal for-hire data accountability, and season stability. It functions perfectly under the Magnuson Stevens Act (MSA) and has done exactly what it was developed to do. This is why they must find a way to chip at it. If it was about seasons and bag limits there are other ways to address that… make no mistake this is about control. 

That is why we need you, and your crew, to speak out against this attempt to fracture the best management plan our industry has ever had. There are multiple ways to show your support for Amendment 40. You can show up to the next Gulf Council meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana on public comment day, January 28, 2026, or you can do written testimony and submit it via email to the Gulf Council. The agenda has public comment starting at 9:15am – 12:30pm, this is different than how they usually do but has been done before. They are condensing the meeting into three days instead of four. So, if you are coming to do public comment in person, please be advised it starts Wednesday morning and not the afternoon. 

If you are not able to go then written comments will be accepted and we urge all permit holders to submit one. We will work with you in the coming weeks on where to send them and bullet points to think about while you are crafting your public comment to help. It is our hope that we can unify our industry under the success of Amendment 40 and preserve the gains our anglers, crews, and businesses have enjoyed.

Thank You, 

Capt. Jim Green

President

Charter Fishermans Association