The holidays provide extra time for fishing along the Gulf coast, but some popular species are not for keeps due to red tide.
Snook, red drum and spotted seatrout are all catch and release from Pasco County down to Collier County.
The regulation from state wildlife officials will last until spring of 2020 because of toxic red tide algae blooms in west coast waters.
RELATED: Red Tide And Human Health: Researchers Study 'Chronic Exposure'
As of Friday, there were low concentrations of the red tide organism in Pinellas to high concentrations in Collier.
Fish kills were recently reported in Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, and Collier counties.
Anglers will be permitted to keep red drum and seatrout again after May 31. T he regular snook season begins again in September 2020.
Copyright 2020 WUSF Public Media - WUSF 89.7. To see more, visit . 9(MDAyMTYyMTU5MDEyOTc4NzE4ODNmYWEwYQ004))
