Key Messages
- Georgia’s electronic reporting platform, VESL, required for use during the two-week red snapper harvest, is live and anglers can now complete new registrations.
- Private anglers must use VESL to authorize trips and report catches within 24 hours.
- Georgia’s red snapper season runs Oct. 9–22, 2026, in South Atlantic federal waters.
- The daily bag limit is one red snapper per person. No minimum size.
- The pilot will test state-led data collection and could allow an additional December season.
As of today, anglers can now complete their account registrations on Georgia’s VESL, an electronic reporting platform developed by Bluefin Data LLC. It is accessible through apps on iPhone and Android, as well as through the website. Before leaving on a fishing trip, each participating private angler must use VESL to declare the trip and receive a unique trip authorization code. That code must be available for inspection by law enforcement while fishing. Participation is open to private anglers with a valid Georgia recreational fishing license and Saltwater Information Program Permit, as well as appropriately permitted charter vessels and headboats.
Georgia recreational anglers will have 14 days to harvest red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) in federal waters this October under a newly issued Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) that will also test a new state-led system for collecting recreational fishing data.
The daily bag limit is one red snapper per person, with no bag allowance for captains or crew aboard charter or headboats. There is no minimum size for harvested fish. Fishing trips conducted under the EFP must begin and end at a landing location in Georgia.
Anglers must then submit a completed trip report through VESL no later than 24 hours after the trip's departure time. Reports will include the number of red snapper caught, kept and released, including whether released fish were alive or dead.
An angler who has not completed the required report will not be eligible to begin another EFP fishing trip until the outstanding report is submitted.
Federally permitted charter and headboat operators will continue reporting through the existing federal for-hire electronic reporting program.
Learn about and download the VESL reporting platform via the app or website.
Visit CRD’s official EFP website at GeorgiaRedSnapper.com for updates and more information.
Additional Resources
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