WASHINGTON—The 2014 Gulf of Mexico red snapper recreational season in federal waters is nine days, opening at 12:01 a.m., June 1, 2014, and closing at 12:01 a.m., on June 10, 2014. The red snapper bag limit is two fish with a 16-inch minimum total length size limit. At its April 2014 meeting, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council requested an emergency rule to revise the recreational accountability measures for red snapper by applying a 20-percent buffer to the recreational quota, which results in a recreational annual catch target of 4.312 million pounds whole weight.

This emergency rule will not affect the commercial harvest of red snapper in the reef fish fishery. The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council's decision to request an emergency rule was made following the decision of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Guindon v. Pritzker, (Mar. 26, 2014). After recalculating the season length based on the annual catch target and including the 2013 Marine Recreational Information Program data, NOAA Fisheries is setting a nine-day red snapper fishing season.

The purpose of this rulemaking is to better ensure red snapper recreational landings do not exceed the recreational quota established in the rebuilding plan, in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the Court's ruling. The method for calculating the dates for the federal season for each state are available in the Environmental Assessment in Appendix B. Electronic copies of the documents are available. Final Rule and Environmental Assessment: Federal eRulemaking Portal search "NOAA-NMFS-2014-0055" www.regulations.gov and NOAA Fisheries http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/.

This summary is not a substitute for the actual regulations. To read the full text of the regulations, find available at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/.

About Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council is one of eight regional Fishery Management Councils established by the Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976. The Council prepares fishery management plans, which are designed to manage fishery resources within the 200-mile limit of the Gulf of Mexico - See more at: http://www.thefishingwire.com/story/319005#sthash.Rt03IhyF.dpuf