The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) announced that the private recreational red snapper season in federal waters will open on May 22, shifting from its traditional June 1 start date. The 10-day advancement is intended to provide saltwater anglers a longer window for coastal fishing that includes the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
This shift in the federal calendar aims to maximize the economic impact of the holiday weekend for coastal communities while balancing the management of the Gulf of Mexico’s most popular reef fish. While federal waters will observe the new May 22 opening, state waters remain open year-round with separate bag and size limits.
The early opening is underscored by the launch of a new “disCARD” study, a state-federal partnership designed to fill critical data gaps regarding the survival rates of caught-and-released reef fish to ensure long-term sustainable harvest levels.
Under the 2026 regulations, anglers in federal waters are permitted a daily bag limit of two fish with a 16-inch minimum size requirement, which counts toward the broader state bag limit of four fish. In state waters, the daily limit remains four fish with a 15-inch minimum. While supporters of the expanded season argue it reflects a recovering population, independent conservation groups like the Ocean Conservancy have raised concerns that extending season lengths could lead to overfishing, citing a decline in the average size of red snapper in certain regions. To mitigate mortality from barotrauma—a condition where internal gases expand as fish are brought to the surface—the 2022 DESCEND Act continues to require all anglers in federal waters to possess a venting tool or rigged descending device.
The state is also leveraging new technology to improve fishery management through the 18-month “disCARD” study in partnership with Mississippi State University. The project will focus on the Galveston, San Antonio, and Lower Laguna Madre Bay systems, where anglers will submit data on released fish via a text-based system. This focus on the Lower Laguna Madre follows previous reporting by The Texas Dispatch on April 15 regarding a seawater desalination pilot project in the same region aimed at securing a sustainable water source for South Texas coastal communities. By gathering near-real-time data on discards, TPWD officials and scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) hope to refine harvest estimates and prevent the stock from falling back toward the historical lows seen in the late 1990s.
“The disCARD study represents a new opportunity for anglers to directly help gather more accurate data for better fishery management,” said Hanna Bauer, a Program Coordinator for the study, noting that fish released by private anglers offshore has long been a significant “data gap” in Texas.