Red Snapper Act of 2025

This proposal delays new fishing closures in the South Atlantic until fresh red snapper data is used. It says NOAA cannot create new area or bottom fishing closures for snapper-grouper species (like red snapper, grouper, and porgy) until the South Atlantic Great Red Snapper Count is finished and its results are built into the next official stock assessment after the law takes effect . Closures limit where people can fish and are used to prevent overfishing, so this bill would pause those new restrictions until the latest science is included.

Key points

• Who is affected: Recreational and commercial fishers, and coastal communities in the South Atlantic, from North Carolina to Florida.
• What changes: NOAA may not issue new area or bottom closures for the snapper-grouper fishery until the red snapper count study is complete and its data is included in the first updated SEDAR stock assessment after enactment .
• When this applies: From enactment until both conditions are met—the study is done and its data is integrated into that next assessment .