11-03 | Federal Red Snapper Season Closes November 21

Nov. 3, 2025

Media Contact: TPWD News, Business Hours, 512-389-8030

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AUSTIN- The 2025 recreational red snapper season in federal waters will close at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 21, making this the longest federal red snapper season since 2007. Saltwater anglers enjoyed 173 days of offshore red snapper fishing along the Texas coast this year.

After the closing date, anglers in Texas state waters out to nine nautical miles can continue to keep up to four red snapper per day with a 15-inch minimum length limit.

“The 2025 federal red snapper season offered nearly six months of red snapper fishing opportunities to the people of Texas,” said Robin Riechers, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) Coastal Fisheries Division Director. “This remarkable milestone clearly shows that regional management of fisheries works to provide greater benefits and fishing opportunities to anglers. We look forward to continuing to work with Texas’ saltwater anglers to maintain this important fishery and ensure we create the maximum benefits to Texas and our anglers.”

The Nov. 21 closing date ends an extraordinary 173-day season in federal waters, added Riechers, and allows state waters to remain open until the total allowed state catch limit is reached.

TPWD establishes the opening and closing of the recreational red snapper fishery in federal waters off Texas’ coast under an agreement between the department and the National Marine Fisheries Service. The federal red snapper season is managed by a quota system that uses red snapper catch data (in pounds of fish) to determine when a federal water closure is necessary. Texas closes the federal water fishery when the state’s catch limit in pounds is reached for the year, with enough cushion to make sure state waters can remain open until the end of the year.

To estimate the state’s annual red snapper fishery harvest season, TPWD closely monitors red snapper landings through its creel survey program and mobile application. Anglers can continue to report snapper landings in state waters with TPWD’s mobile application, Texas Hunt & Fish.