BATON ROUGE (AP) — State wildlife officials estimate that Louisiana's recreational fishermen landed 993,963 pounds of red snapper through September 8 when Louisiana's state water red snapper season closed.
During the 2015 season, private recreational anglers landed 763,248 pounds of red snapper during the state and federal seasons — close to the state's seasonal target.
However, Louisiana charter boats landed 230,715 pounds — only 68 percent of their 338,548-pound target.
Wildlife Secretary Robert Barham said in a weekend news release that his department is considering an additional fall red snapper season.
Monitoring of landings is done through the "LA Creel" program, aimed at allowing officials to set flexible seasons based on available fish. State officials say the real-time monitoring enables Louisiana to extend recreational red snapper seasons in state waters beyond the federal season.
