NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries Service) reminds fishermen that recreational fishing for red snapper in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico will close effective 12:01 a.m. local time July 24, 2010, through December 31, 2010, the end of the current fishing year. Recreational fishing in federal waters will reopen on June 1, 2011, the beginning of the 2011 federal recreational fishing season.

At the request of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, NOAA Fisheries Service is developing rulemaking that would allow recreational fishing to reopen later in the year. A fishery closure of Gulf of Mexico federal waters because of the Deepwater Horizon/BP Oil Spill may have reduced fishing effort such that the recreational quota has not been filled. Should NOAA Fisheries Service make this determination, the recreational fishing season for red snapper would be reopened to allow the harvest of the remainder of the quota.

Fishermen are reminded that a person aboard a vessel for which a federal charter vessel/headboat permit for Gulf reef fish has been issued, must also abide by these closure provisions in state waters for the extent of the closure.

Closure of the recreational red snapper sector in federal waters complies with regulations implemented under the Fishery Management Plan for Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico, and in accordance with requirements specified in the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. NOAA Fisheries Service is required to close a fishery sector in federal waters when the quota is met or projected to be met.