GULF SHORES, Ala. (WKRG) — We are just days away from the official start of Red Snapper season as soon as an angler comes back to shore, the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural resources will have to fill out a report and count the number of snapper. This season, they have a new and faster way of doing so.

Kevin Anson, Chief of Fishery, with Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, says they are able to use technology instead of paper.

“We are utilizing tablets and have taken those questions that we have on old paper forms,” said Anson. “We are now able to put into the tablets in an app, and our samplers are able to collect that data electronically and that will speed up the process.”

Keeping track of red snapper is very important.

“Management of red snapper, here in the Gulf of Mexico, has been contentious,” said Anson. “The majority of red snapper live in federal waters off of each of the respected gulf states and the federal government oversees the management of that, so they set the quota for how many red snapper can be caught each year.”

Anson said over 15 million pounds of Red Snapper are caught each season through out the Gulf Coast.

Anson also wants to remind fishermen that the limit is two snapper per person, per day and the fish must be 16 inches long.

The season will consist of four-day weekends, Friday through Monday, beginning Friday, May 26 through August 25th or until the 558,200 pound quota is met.