Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Red Snapper Act of 
2023’’. 
SEC. 2. CONDITIONS FOR RULES RELATED TO CERTAIN 
AREA CLOSURES. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) Fishing is a major economic driver in the 
South Atlantic. In Florida alone, recreational anglers 
provide $14,000,000,000 in economic output and sup-
port 119,000 jobs. 
(2) Red snapper is a highly prized and sought 
after reef fish by both recreational and commercial 
fishermen. 
(3) The 6-day recreational red snapper season in 
2018 added $13,000,000 to the gross domestic product 
of the South Atlantic region. 
(4) For the last 10 years, fishery managers have 
successfully been working to rebuild the red snapper 
stock in the South Atlantic. There is currently record 
high abundance and strong recruitment within the 
stock. 
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(5) This record abundance has led to increased 
out-of-season encounters and discards which is driv-
ing red snapper mortality. 
(6) Despite these increased discards, it is the 
overriding opinion of the South Atlantic Fishery 
Management Council’s Snapper Grouper Advisory 
Panel that based on members’ collective on-the-water 
experience, the red snapper fishery is recovered. 
(7) However, options for future consideration to 
reduce out-of-season encounters and red snapper mor-
talities include shorter seasons and broad area clo-
sures for the snapper-grouper fishery in the South At-
lantic. 
(8) The State of Florida is concerned with the 
economic implications of area closures for the South 
Atlantic snapper-grouper recreational fishery. 
(9) $5,100,000 has been invested in independent 
survey data over the last three fiscal years, including 
$3,300,000 for the South Atlantic Great Red Snapper 
Count to estimate the number of red snapper 
(Lutjanus campechanus) in the South Atlantic waters 
from North Carolina to Florida. 
(10) The National Marine Fisheries Service 
should incorporate data from this survey into the Na-
tional Marine Fisheries Service stock assessments as 
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expeditiously as possible to better inform fishery man-
agement decisions. 
(b) CONDITION ON ISSUANCE OF RULE.—The Admin-
istrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis-
tration shall not issue an interim or final rule that includes 
an area closure in the South Atlantic for species managed 
under the Snapper-Grouper Fishery Management Plan 
until— 
(1) the South Atlantic Great Red Snapper Count 
study is complete; and 
(2) the data related to that study is integrated 
into the upcoming South Atlantic red snapper re-
search track and operational stock assessment. 
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Union Calendar No. 606 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4587 
[Report No. 118–717] 
A BILL 
To provide that the Administrator of the National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall 
not issue an interim or final rule that includes an 
area closure in the South Atlantic for species 
managed under the Snapper-Grouper Fishery 
Management Plan until the South Atlantic Great 
Red Snapper Count study is complete and the 
data related to that study is integrated into the 
stock assessment. 
OCTOBER 25, 2024 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 
and ordered to be printed 
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