Florida state waters in the Gulf of Mexico will open for recreational gag grouper harvest from Sept. 1 through Sept. 30, following an executive order issued by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) at its August meeting.
The recreational season applies to all Gulf state waters except those off Monroe County. Harvest will officially close at 12:01 a.m. on Oct. 1.
The FWC aligned the state schedule with the 2026 recreational season recently announced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for adjacent federal waters.
State officials noted that maintaining consistent recreational rules between state and federal boundaries helps prevent fishermen from exceeding the allowable recreational quota, which reduces the likelihood of triggering a quota payback penalty in 2027.
Private recreational anglers planning to target gag grouper or other specified reef fish must register for the State Reef Fish Angler designation before heading out. The free designation requires annual renewal.
Anglers who sign up may be selected to participate in the mail component of the State Reef Fish Survey. FWC uses data gathered from the survey directly in Gulf gag grouper management decisions to estimate harvest numbers and support future recreational fishing access across the state.
READ: Low Concentrations Of Red Tide Algae Detected Off Florida Coasts
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