Red snapper 2026: a three-day federal season and South Carolina's permit days

The federal season

Red snapper are common on the hard bottom and ledges off the Grand Strand, but harvest in federal waters (beyond 3 nautical miles) has been held to a few days a year. For 2026, NOAA Fisheries announced a recreational season of October 9, 10, and 11, with a limit of one red snapper per person per day and no minimum size. The season opened at 12:01 a.m. local time on October 9 and closed at 12:01 a.m. on October 12, according to the Federal Register notice.

South Carolina's experimental permit

NOAA also issued exempted fishing permits (EFPs) that let Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina run their own state-managed days, through October 22. In South Carolina the program is called the South Carolina Red Snapper Project. According to SCDNR:

• Anglers needed a valid SC saltwater fishing license, then a free red snapper experimental permit on GoOutdoorsSC.
• Each angler planning to keep a red snapper had to declare the trip in the VESL app and report the catch within 24 hours.
• Nearly 3,000 South Carolina anglers got permits.
• EFP participants could not also use the federal season days, per NOAA's bulletin.

The October season is over. SCDNR is asking anglers to keep declaring and reporting bottom-fishing trips on VESL through the end of November, in season or not, because those records feed the case for more state-based management.

Gear rules that still apply

SCDNR's red snapper page lists the gear required in the snapper-grouper fishery: a descending device rigged and ready (at least 60 feet of line and 16 ounces or more of weight), non-offset, non-stainless-steel circle hooks, and a dehooking tool. EFP anglers had to use the descending device when releasing red snapper showing barotrauma. Those gear rules come from federal regulations and the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, and they apply on every bottom trip, not only during the season.

What about December?

SCDNR says NOAA Fisheries will evaluate the regional results and determine whether to provide additional days in December. Nothing has been announced as of October 29, 2026. Check the SCDNR red snapper page and NOAA's Southeast fishery bulletins before you plan a trip. Earlier in 2026, a proposed July and August season under the first permits was put on hold by a federal court injunction, so dates in this fishery can change quickly.

State waters

SCDNR notes that in state waters (inside 3 miles) red snapper have no closed season, with a state bag and size limit. Few red snapper are caught that close to the Grand Strand beaches. Check the current state limit at SCDNR before you keep one.