Photo of red snapper from FWC, collage by New Times
Audio By Carbonatix
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) officials are seeing red, according to a Facebook post seemingly declaring war on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) over the fishing of red snapper this weekend.
Referencing a historic war cry famously attributed to Spartan King Leonidas I when Persian King Xerxes I demanded the Greeks’ weapons before the Battle of Thermopylae, “Come and take it,” FWC officials posted Thursday morning along with a silhouette of a red snapper in string of posts calling out a “rouge” federal judge and NOAA. The acts of aggression stem from a lawsuit (attached at the end of this story) arguing special fishing permits issued in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina will lead to the overfishing of red snapper.
In a follow-up post made hours later, FWC explains the snafu centers on a judge’s ruling on Thursday (attached below) putting a hold on special fishing permits recently issued in Florida to expand the state’s recreational red snapper season. The ruling comes from a lawsuit filed by the Southeastern Fisheries Association against U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, arguing “excessive catch of South Atlantic red snapper in 2026 will harm the stock. Stock abundance and biomass will be depleted, and its rebuilding progress will be set back.”
“The factual record establishes that under the challenged permits, red snapper landings in 2026 will substantially exceed the stock’s annual catch limit,” according to the lawsuit. “The record also establishes that under the challenged permits, fishing mortality in 2026 will be so high as to cause overfishing on South Atlantic red snapper.
“Plaintiffs in this case are a commercial fishing association, commercial fishing companies, and individual commercial fishermen. Defendants’ illegal action will impact plaintiffs’ ability to harvest red snapper, and therefore their revenues. It also will damage an important natural resource and ocean health, upon which they depend for their livelihoods and way of life. It further will undermine the community of commercial fishing in the South Atlantic, which is a key source of support for Plaintiffs and which they work hard to maintain.”
Environmental groups like the Ocean Conservancy have reportedly filed court paperwork in support of the lawsuit, claiming the permits could harm the snapper population.
In FWC’s follow-up post, officials say they’ve responded by expanding access to fishing in state waters. FWC rescinded its executive order (EO 26-11) which established catch regulations, ultimately reverting fishing rules to the default two red snapper per person with a 20-inch size limit. The default rules will remain in effect until further notice, according to FWC.
NOAA officials didn’t respond to New Times‘ questions.
When asked whether FWC had the authority to change its regulations against, at the very least, the spirit of the federal ruling, an FWC spokesperson essentially reiterated the social media posts.
“To ensure anglers can continue enjoying time on the water as planned beginning this weekend, the FWC has adjusted its approach to maintain access to red snapper fishing in Florida’s Atlantic state waters,” an FWC spokeswoman wrote to New Times. “Effective May 21, the FWC rescinded EO 26-11, allowing recreational anglers to continue harvesting red snapper in Atlantic state waters under existing Florida regulations.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis weighed into the murky waters Friday at a press conference in Jacksonville, telling reporters, “How disrespectful is it to rule when people have already made plans to come down and to do this? There’s a lot of people that, that (extended season) may have been the determining factor in them doing Memorial Day weekend on the east coast of Florida, then maybe they would have gone somewhere else. I just think it’s really disrespectful to try to pull the rug out from under them, especially given there’s so many fish in the sea.”
