{"id":129154,"date":"2026-02-06T17:22:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T17:22:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/?p=129154"},"modified":"2026-04-07T08:46:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T08:46:18","slug":"red-grouper-new-gulf-council-recommendations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/red-grouper-new-gulf-council-recommendations\/","title":{"rendered":"More Red Grouper, Fewer Closures: Gulf Council&#8217;s New Recommendation for 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 2<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><p>Good news for Grouper fans! The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council just took <a href=\"https:\/\/gulfcouncil.org\/gulf-council-recommends-catch-limit-increases-for-red-grouper-and-removal-of-the-seasonal-recreational-shallow-water-grouper-beyond-20-fathoms\/?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">final action on <strong>Reef Fish Amendment 62<\/strong><\/a>, recommending <strong>higher catch limits for Red Grouper<\/strong> and the <strong>removal of the February 1 &ndash; March 31 recreational shallow-water closure for <em>all<\/em> Grouper<\/strong> in federal waters <strong>beyond 20 fathoms<\/strong>.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"769\" src=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2024\/07\/07143615\/Red-Grouper-Second-Generation-Fishing-Charters.jpg\" alt=\"A man posing with a Red Grouper he caught fishing aboard a charter in Florida.\" class=\"wp-image-114651\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2024\/07\/07143615\/Red-Grouper-Second-Generation-Fishing-Charters.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2024\/07\/07143615\/Red-Grouper-Second-Generation-Fishing-Charters-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2024\/07\/07143615\/Red-Grouper-Second-Generation-Fishing-Charters-768x577.jpg 768w, https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2024\/07\/07143615\/Red-Grouper-Second-Generation-Fishing-Charters-150x113.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><p>The decision was announced on <strong>January 28, 2026<\/strong>, and the amendment is now headed to the <strong>Secretary of Commerce<\/strong> for review and implementation &#8220;as soon as practicable.&#8221;<\/p><p>If you fish the Gulf for Grouper, this is one of the more meaningful &#8220;more time on the water&#8221; developments we&#8217;ve seen in a while.<\/p><h2 id=\"what-the-council-recommended-for-red-grouper\">What the Council Recommended for Red Grouper<\/h2><p>Here are the changes the Council approved for Red Grouper management:<\/p><ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Catch limits should increase<\/strong>, <strong>phased in over three years<\/strong> (rather than all at once).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The catch limits are split between two groups:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Commercial fishermen would get <strong>68.2%<\/strong> of the catch limit quota.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Recreational anglers would get the remaining <strong>31.8%<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Council would <strong>keep the current buffers<\/strong> between sector ACLs (annual catch limits) and ACTs (annual catch targets). Buffers are there to prevent either of the two groups from exceeding catch quotas. They currently sit at <strong>5%<\/strong> for commercial and <strong>9%<\/strong> for recreational anglers.<\/li>\n<\/ul><p>Why now? The most recent stock assessment (<strong>SEDAR 88<\/strong>) found Red Grouper is <strong>not overfished and not experiencing overfishing<\/strong>, and the new catch advice supports a <strong>substantial increase<\/strong> from current limits.<\/p><h2 id=\"the-big-quality-of-life-change-for-recreational-anglers\">The Big Quality-of-Life Change for Recreational Anglers<\/h2><p>The Council also voted to eliminate the <strong>February 1&ndash;March 31<\/strong> recreational closed season for all shallow-water Grouper <strong>in federal waters seaward of 20 fathoms<\/strong>.<\/p><p>In plain English: if this becomes final, that late-winter &#8220;nope&#8221; window beyond the 20-fathom line would go away &ndash; removing a regulatory hurdle that many anglers (and for-hire operations) have had to plan around for years.<\/p><p>The Council&#8217;s reasoning was straightforward: some of the species the closure was meant to protect <strong>no longer need that extra layer of protection<\/strong> (with Red Grouper being the obvious example), while other species are <strong>largely unaffected<\/strong> due to existing and planned regulations.<\/p><h2 id=\"what-happens-next\">What Happens Next<\/h2><p>Important detail: <strong>this is not in effect yet.<\/strong> The Council has taken final action, but the amendment still needs to go through federal review and implementation steps. For now, it&#8217;s best to treat this as <strong>recommended policy<\/strong> &ndash; not a rule you can fish under today.<\/p><h2 id=\"what-this-could-mean-for-your-next-gulf-trip\">What This Could Mean for Your Next Gulf Trip<\/h2><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2022\/08\/14140917\/Center-Console-Boat.jpg\" alt=\"A photo of a center console boat riding through the waters.\" class=\"wp-image-38917\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2022\/08\/14140917\/Center-Console-Boat.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2022\/08\/14140917\/Center-Console-Boat-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2022\/08\/14140917\/Center-Console-Boat-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><p>If the amendment goes through, anglers and businesses could see:<\/p><ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>More opportunity<\/strong> to <a href=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/fish\/grouper-red?utm_source=fishingbooker&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=post_content_link&amp;utm_term=129154\">target Red Grouper<\/a> (especially as catch limits step up).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Simpler seasonal planning<\/strong> for offshore winter trips beyond 20 fathoms.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Economic upside<\/strong> for the commercial sector &ndash; and likely some spillover benefits for the for-hire side whenever regulations become less restrictive.<\/li>\n<\/ul><p><em>How do you feel about the removal of the 20-fathom closure? Long overdue, or do you think it should&#8217;ve stayed in place a bit longer?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Good news for Grouper fans! The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council just took final action on Reef Fish Amendment 62, recommending higher catch limits for Red Grouper and the removal of the February 1 &ndash; March 31 recreational shallow-water closure for all Grouper in federal waters beyond 20 fathoms. The decision was announced on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":114653,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2211],"tags":[1007,340,1454,398,1891,1521,1453],"class_list":["post-129154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fishing-news","tag-deep-sea-fishing","tag-florida","tag-grouper-season","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-new-rules-and-regulations","tag-news","tag-red-grouper"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>More Red Grouper, Fewer Closures: Gulf Council&#8217;s New Recommendation for 2026 - FishingBooker Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/red-grouper-new-gulf-council-recommendations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"More Red Grouper, Fewer Closures: Gulf Council&#8217;s New Recommendation for 2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Read the latest news regarding Red Grouper regulations in the Gulf of Mexico, including the 20-fathom closure removal in February and March.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/red-grouper-new-gulf-council-recommendations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FishingBooker Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FishingBooker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-06T17:22:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-07T08:46:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2024\/07\/07143615\/Red-Grouper-Second-Generation-Fishing-Charters.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"769\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Marko Mirkailo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Marko Mirkailo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"More Red Grouper, Fewer Closures: Gulf Council&#8217;s New Recommendation for 2026 - FishingBooker Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/red-grouper-new-gulf-council-recommendations\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"More Red Grouper, Fewer Closures: Gulf Council&#8217;s New Recommendation for 2026","og_description":"Read the latest news regarding Red Grouper regulations in the Gulf of Mexico, including the 20-fathom closure removal in February and March.","og_url":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/red-grouper-new-gulf-council-recommendations\/","og_site_name":"FishingBooker Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FishingBooker","article_published_time":"2026-02-06T17:22:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-07T08:46:18+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":769,"url":"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2024\/07\/07143615\/Red-Grouper-Second-Generation-Fishing-Charters.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Marko Mirkailo","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Marko Mirkailo","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/red-grouper-new-gulf-council-recommendations\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/red-grouper-new-gulf-council-recommendations\/"},"author":{"name":"Marko Mirkailo","@id":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/07cf0d5927561af5c364a7565cbd9213"},"headline":"More Red Grouper, Fewer Closures: Gulf Council&#8217;s New Recommendation for 2026","datePublished":"2026-02-06T17:22:24+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-07T08:46:18+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/red-grouper-new-gulf-council-recommendations\/"},"wordCount":481,"commentCount":2,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/red-grouper-new-gulf-council-recommendations\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2024\/07\/07143615\/Red-Grouper-Second-Generation-Fishing-Charters.jpg","keywords":["Deep Sea Fishing","Florida","Grouper Season","Gulf of Mexico","New Rules and Regulations","News","Red Grouper"],"articleSection":["Fishing News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/red-grouper-new-gulf-council-recommendations\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/red-grouper-new-gulf-council-recommendations\/","url":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/red-grouper-new-gulf-council-recommendations\/","name":"More Red Grouper, Fewer Closures: Gulf Council&#8217;s New Recommendation for 2026 - FishingBooker Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/red-grouper-new-gulf-council-recommendations\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/red-grouper-new-gulf-council-recommendations\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2024\/07\/07143615\/Red-Grouper-Second-Generation-Fishing-Charters.jpg","datePublished":"2026-02-06T17:22:24+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-07T08:46:18+00:00","description":"Read the latest news regarding Red Grouper regulations in the Gulf of Mexico, including the 20-fathom closure removal in February and March.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/red-grouper-new-gulf-council-recommendations\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/red-grouper-new-gulf-council-recommendations\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/red-grouper-new-gulf-council-recommendations\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2024\/07\/07143615\/Red-Grouper-Second-Generation-Fishing-Charters.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2024\/07\/07143615\/Red-Grouper-Second-Generation-Fishing-Charters.jpg","width":1024,"height":769},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/red-grouper-new-gulf-council-recommendations\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"More Red Grouper, Fewer Closures: Gulf Council&#8217;s New Recommendation for 2026"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/","name":"FishingBooker Blog","description":"Fishing trip inspiration, travel guides &amp; tips","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"FishingBooker","url":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2022\/07\/14141055\/logo-white-bckblue-1200px.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2022\/07\/14141055\/logo-white-bckblue-1200px.jpg","width":1200,"height":578,"caption":"FishingBooker"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FishingBooker","https:\/\/x.com\/FishingBooker","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/fishingbooker\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/fishingbooker\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCO3ivVJwOU6HJTy2GxD9wNg"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/07cf0d5927561af5c364a7565cbd9213","name":"Marko Mirkailo","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/12d7ea41b59ff7b471ea79df95265b9ad9b0940f3e1264f62fdee0fae66ae07f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/12d7ea41b59ff7b471ea79df95265b9ad9b0940f3e1264f62fdee0fae66ae07f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/12d7ea41b59ff7b471ea79df95265b9ad9b0940f3e1264f62fdee0fae66ae07f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Marko Mirkailo"},"description":"From an early age, Marko has felt most at home outdoors. His introduction to fishing came courtesy of his dad and long days on the banks of the Danube River, where he learned the basics of angling, reeled in his very first catch (an Ide), and picked up the art of cooking a seriously good fish stew. These days, Marko still chases that same sense of adventure \u2013 whether he's hiking new trails, logging miles on a run, traveling to unfamiliar places, or putting his experiences into words.","url":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/author\/marko\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/fishingbooker-prod-blog-backup.s3.amazonaws.com\/blog\/media\/2024\/07\/07143615\/Red-Grouper-Second-Generation-Fishing-Charters.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129154"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129154\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131431,"href":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129154\/revisions\/131431"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fishingbooker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}