Red Snapper
Huachinango del Golfo
Lutjanus campechanus · Lutjanidae
- Category
- Snapper & Pargo
- Found in
- Gulf of Mexico
- IUCN status
- Vulnerable
About Red Snapper in Mexico
How to recognize it
The Gulf red snapper is a deep-bodied, rosy-red fish that fades to pink and white on the belly. Its eye has a red iris, the snout is fairly pointed and adults develop a sharply angled anal fin. Juveniles may carry a dusky spot below the soft dorsal that fades with age. The vermilion snapper is slimmer with a more upturned mouth, and the silk snapper has a yellow iris, two easy checks when sorting a mixed catch.
Where and when in Mexico
Known as huachinango del Golfo, this fish ranges along Mexico's Gulf shelf, from Tamaulipas past Tampico and Veracruz to the broad Campeche Bank off the Yucatán Peninsula, which supports a long-established commercial fishery. Adults live over rocky ledges, reefs, wrecks and oil platforms, usually in water deeper than about 20 meters, while smaller fish occupy shallower mud and shell bottom. They are caught year-round. Recreational catches commonly fall in the 3–10 pound range, with larger fish over deeper structure.
How it's fished
Charter and panga crews out of Veracruz, Tampico and Ciudad del Carmen bottom fish with cut bait, squid or sardine on dropper rigs or Carolina rigs, using circle hooks and enough weight to hold over structure. Vertical jigs and live bait drifted near platforms take some of the bigger fish.
Good to know
This species gave its name to huachinango a la veracruzana, the Veracruz dish of whole snapper baked in tomato, olives and capers. Red snapper are prone to barotrauma when brought up from depth; venting or a descending device helps released fish survive.
Fishing rules in Mexico
- General limit: 10 fish per angler per day, max 5 of one species
Source: NOM-017-PESC-1994 §4.9.1 (2013 mod.). Rules change; confirm current limits, seasons and permits with CONAPESCA before you fish.
