Page 113 - South Mississippi Living - May, 2023

The season will remain open 24 hours a day, seven days a week for as long as the season lasts. How long the season lasts depends upon how much people catch. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration sets quota limits of how many pounds
of red snapper sportsmen in each of the Gulf Coast states can catch. This year, the federal government will allow Mississippi sportsmen to keep about 41 percent what they could bring home in 2022.
“The red snapper season end date depends upon when the federal allocation is caught,” explains Joe Spraggins, the executive director for the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources in Biloxi. “The 2022 quota was 151,550 pounds. This year, it will be about 62,000 pounds, less than half of the 2022 quota. We’ll try to run the season at least through July 4. After that, we might close the season for a while and do a reassessment to see where we stand.”
Spraggins called the way NOAA allocates quotas “antiquated.” All captains or owners of recreational
and “for-hire” vessels fishing off the Mississippi Coast must report their red snapper catches through the MDMR Tails n’ Scales app www.tailsnscales. org. This electronic reporting system helps the state fisheries managers
keep track of red snapper landings in Mississippi ports.
“The system NOAA uses is very antiquated and does not work
for Mississippi,” Spraggins says. “Mississippi has the best system in
the United States for reporting red snapper catches in Tails n’ Scales. When people report their snapper to Tails n’ Scales, we know exactly what’s been caught. We have a great snapper population with plenty of fish for the people to catch during the season. We are working to try to get our allocation reinstated.”
Red snapper like to stay near hard structures in deep water. In the
past few years, MDMR established numerous artificial reefs placed off the Mississippi coast. This includes 15 offshore reefs that combine for about 16,000 acres of fish habitat where previously only a mud bottom existed.
Some reefs include entire sunken ships. Many consist of concrete rubble from previous storms or highway construction and other materials.
Anglers usually start seeing red snapper in about 40 to 50 feet of water. Spraggins recommends fishing the FH-1, FH-2, FH-7 and FH-13 reefs. These sit in water ranging from about 57 feet to 140 feet deep.
“The FH-13 Reef is our biggest reef for snapper fishermen,” Spraggins advises. “These reefs offer anglers their best chances to catch big red snapper off the Mississippi Coast. That’s why we put out quite a few artificial reefs all along the coast. My advice to the anglers would be to go out as early
in the season as possible. The bigger fish are always caught in the first part of the season. Those reefs get a lot of pressure. Anyone who wants to catch a big snapper should go at their first opportunity.”
The MDMR will announce the closing date later this summer when the anglers approach the quota. For artificial reef locations, see www.dmr. ms.gov/artificial-reef.
SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living | www.smliving.net
May 2023 | 113
ABOVE: Anglers bottom fish for red snapper and other fish during an excursion in the Gulf of Mexico.
LEFT: K.D. Forsythe and Mason Hester show off some red snapper they caught. Red snapper rank among the most popular and delicious fish.
J. R. Hester shows off a red snapper he caught while fishing in the Gulf. Many Mississippi sportsmen eagerly await the opening of red snapper season each year.