Snapper Check Information | Outdoor Alabama

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Main navigation

• Licenses
  • License Information
  • Purchase a License
  • All Access License Packages
  • Print a Previously Purchased License
  • Hunting Licenses
  • Freshwater Fishing Licenses
  • Saltwater Recreational Licenses
  • Commercial Licenses & Permits
  • Get A Conservation ID Number
  • License FAQs
  • Collectible License Cards
  • Wildlife Heritage License
• Hunting
  • Seasons and Bag Limits
  • Game Check and Harvest Record
  • Hunter Safety Education
  • Hunting & Wildlife Regulations
  • Hunter Resources
  • Hunters Helping the Hungry
  • Wildlife Management Areas
  • Special Opportunity Areas
  • What to Hunt
  • Where to Hunt
  • Learn to Hunt
  • Youth Hunting
  • Trapping in Alabama
  • Physically Disabled Hunting Trail
  • Transfer of Possession Deer/Turkey
  • Hunter Orange Requirement in Alabama
  • CWD (Chronic Wasting Disease)
• Fishing
  • Freshwater Fishing
  • Freshwater - Creel and Size Limits
  • Freshwater Bank Access Map
  • Freshwater Fishing Regulations
  • Saltwater Fishing
  • Saltwater - Creel and Size Limits
  • Coastal Fishing Access Map
  • Free Fishing Day
• Boating
  • Boating Access - Coastal
  • Boating Access - Freshwater
  • Boating/Marine Patrol
  • Weather, Tides, GPS, River Stages
• Parks
• Wildlife
  • Birds
  • Reptiles
  • Mammals
  • Amphibians
  • Invertebrates
  • Nongame Wildlife Program
  • Wildlife Articles
  • Wildlife Management Programs
  • Wildlife Rehabilitation
  • Wildlife-Related Diseases
• Enforcement
• Research
  • AL Creel Fishing Survey
  • Aquatic Biodiversity Center
  • Cooperative University Research Projects
  • CWD (Chronic Wasting Disease)
  • Freshwater Fish Hatcheries
  • Hunter Survey Results
  • Invasive Carp in Alabama
  • Sport Fish Restoration
  • State Wildlife Grants
  • Turkey Research
  • Weeks Bay Reserve
• Programs
  • Outdoor Alabama Academy
  • Becoming an Outdoors-Woman
  • Archery in the Schools
  • Outdoor Alabama Wild Eats
  • Campus Conservation Program
  • Outdoor Alabama Photo Contest
  • Alabama Coastal Restoration Program
  • Coastal Programs
  • Conservation Education
  • Waterfowl Stamp Art Contest
  • Forever Wild Program
• Activities
  • Archery Parks
  • Shooting Ranges
  • State Lands Canoe Trails
  • Weeks Bay Reserve
  • Wehle Nature Center
  • Alabama Birding Trails
  • Indian Shell Mound Park
  • Fall Color Trail
  • Alabama iNaturalist Projects
• Lands
  • Interactive Map
  • Canoe Trails
  • Forever Wild
  • Land Stewardship Education Facilities
  • Public Notices
  • State Lands Enforcement
  • State Parks
  • Weeks Bay Reserve
  • Wehle Facilities

Snapper Check Information

Breadcrumb

1. Fishing
2. Saltwater Fishing
3. Snapper Check Information
4. Snapper Check Information

Click logo above to report snapper harvest

Mandatory Reporting

Alabama’s 2025 private angler red snapper season

The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources announces that as of Friday, August 29, 2025, red snapper season will be open seven days a week. The season will close at midnight on Wednesday, December 31, 2025.

*Remember to report your red snapper, gray triggerfish and greater amberjack harvest through Snapper Check. In addition to an Alabama saltwater fishing license or saltwater angler registry a Reef Fish Endorsement is also required to land reef fish in Alabama.

*Operators of vessels with an Alabama Commercial Party Boat License without federal for-hire permits must abide by the state season, possess an Alabama Gulf Reef Fish Endorsement for charter vessels and may only fish inside the 9-mile state waters line.

Click Here for the 2025 Red Snapper Landings Summary

NOAA Fisheries Announces the 2025 Gulf of America Red Snapper Recreational For-Hire Season

The Gulf of America federal red snapper federal for hire season will open at 12:01am, local time, June 1, 2025, and will close at 12:01 am, local time, September 16, 2025.

The 2025 red snapper season for vessels with a federal for-hire reef fish permit is 107 days in federal waters of the Gulf of America.

Mandatory Reporting

Alabama’s 2025 private angler red snapper season

The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources announces that as of Friday, August 29, 2025, red snapper season will be open seven days a week. The season will close at midnight on Wednesday, December 31, 2025.

*Remember to report your red snapper, gray triggerfish and greater amberjack harvest through Snapper Check. In addition to an Alabama saltwater fishing license or saltwater angler registry a Reef Fish Endorsement is also required to land reef fish in Alabama.

*Operators of vessels with an Alabama Commercial Party Boat License without federal for-hire permits must abide by the state season, possess an Alabama Gulf Reef Fish Endorsement for charter vessels and may only fish inside the 9-mile state waters line.

Click Here for the 2025 Red Snapper Landings Summary

NOAA Fisheries Announces the 2025 Gulf of America Red Snapper Recreational For-Hire Season

The Gulf of America federal red snapper federal for hire season will open at 12:01am, local time, June 1, 2025, and will close at 12:01 am, local time, September 16, 2025.

The 2025 red snapper season for vessels with a federal for-hire reef fish permit is 107 days in federal waters of the Gulf of America.

NOAA Fisheries has been supporting the development and implementation of Gulf state data collection programs designed to produce more timely and precise recreational catch estimates for certain species like red snapper.

Click here for more information!

Saltwater Recreational Size & Creel Limits

Reef Fish Angler Check List:

All saltwater anglers who fish off the coast of Alabama will need the following fishing license, endorsement, and registration.

1. ALABAMA SALTWATER FISHING LICENSE

• All must have a valid Alabama saltwater fishing license, as required, when in possession of any saltwater fish species in Alabama waters. For information about saltwater license packages visit our All-Access license package page.

2. REEF FISH ENDORSEMENT

• A Reef Fish Endorsement is required for all resident and non-resident anglers 16 years of age and older, and includes disabled, veterans appreciation, 65 and older, lifetime license holders, pier licenses, annual saltwater licenses, trip licenses, commercial fishermen, and charter boats.

3. SALTWATER ANGLER REGISTRATION (NO COST)

• Free Saltwater Angler Registration is required for all residents 16 and over who take, catch, kill, or possess fish or attempt to catch, kill or possess fish in the saltwater jurisdiction of Alabama. This includes residents who are not required to purchase an annual saltwater license such as those over the age of 64, have a lifetime saltwater license or fish exclusively on a pier that has purchased a pier fishing license.

4. DESCEND ACT

• The DESCEND Act went into effect on January 13, 2022, which requires anglers to have either a venting tool or descending device rigged and ready to use when fishing for and/or possessing reef fish in federal waters of the Gulf of America.

Return 'Em Right is a new program that aims to improve survival of released reef fish by providing anglers with both the knowledge and tools to help return fish to the bottom. Visit their website at returnemright.org for more information on how to receive reef fish release gear for free. ($100 value)

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

• Harvested red snapper, greater amberjack, and gray triggerfish must be reported on one Snapper Check report per vessel trip before fish are landed in Alabama.
• Possession of red snapper, greater amberjack, and gray triggerfish in state waters while the Alabama season is closed is prohibited. Anglers fishing under another state’s season must abide by that state’s rules and land fish in that state. Individuals on vessels with red snapper may not transit Alabama state waters while the Alabama season is closed.

Reef Fish FAQs:

We are currently updating the FAQs for reef fish reporting. If you have any questions, please contact the Marine Resources Division at (251) 861-2882 (Dauphin Island) or (251) 968-7576 (Gulf Shores).

Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) Information

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