By Jessica Domel
Multimedia Reporter

The time of year many anglers have been waiting for is finally here—federal red snapper season.

While anglers in Texas waters can catch and retain legal red snapper year-round, the private, recreational red snapper season in federal waters—that’s areas past nine nautical miles from the coast—opened Thursday, June 1.

This year, anglers in federal waters must have a descending tool or venting device on board to comply with the DESCEND act.

“This is brought on by the congressional legislation through the DESCEND Act, which applies to all boats, charter head boats and private vessels, fishing for reef fish. This simply requires anglers to have a venting tool or descending device rigged and ready to use,” Dakus Geeslin, deputy director of coastal fisheries for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) said at a recent Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission hearing. “Research shows that this practice in catch and release really reduces the mortality within this suite of species, these deep dwelling fish.”

As reef fish are brought up from lower depths, they can experience barotrauma as the gasses in their organs build up, displacing them and leaving the fish severely bloated.

ReturnEmRight.org reports that if anglers return bloated fish back into the water, they will likely float on the surface, unable to return to the depths of the water. That may lead to their death or leave them victim to predation.

Venting tools or descending devices are designed to reduce the likelihood of that happening.

According to ReturnEmRight.org, descending devices are weighted instruments that help fish overcome buoyancy by releasing them at a depth where they have the greatest chances to survive.

Venting tools can be used to penetrate the abdomen of a fish to release any excess gasses that may have built up.

Symptoms of barotrauma that anglers should look out for include: the stomach protruding through the mouth, intestines protruding through the anus, bubbling scales, floating on the surface of the water after being returned, bulging eyes and a bloated belly.

Anglers who need a descending device or venting tool may watch a training video on ReturnEmRight.org to receive $100 in release gear for free.

While the device requirement is currently only in place in federal waters, anglers fishing in state waters will be required to have a device on their vessel starting in September.

Bag and size limit in federal waters for red snapper remains unchanged this year.

In federal waters, anglers can catch and keep up to two red snapper per person per day as long as the fish meet the 16 inch minimum length.

In state waters, the bag limit is four red snapper per person per day. The minimum length limit is 15 inches.

Anglers should be mindful of where they catch their red snapper. Any snapper caught in federal waters counts as part of their state bag limit.

The red snapper season in federal waters will remain open until the state’s allotted poundage is met, at which point TPWD will issue a public notice on TPWD.Texas.Gov.

Additional details are available in the OutdoorAnnual.