In the past, a fish with common in its name has been practically non-existent in Alabama’s coastal waters. However, anglers are increasingly encountering the common snook along Alabama’s beautiful coast, quite a distance from its traditional range in South Florida.
As Alabama anglers started hooking these fish with a large mouth and long lateral line, Dr. Charlie Martin of the University of South Alabama (USA) and the Dauphin Island Sea Lab (DISL) took interest and wanted to document the fish’s relative abundance in Alabama waters.
“The historic range was just north of Tampa to the south on the Gulf side,” said Martin, a north Alabama native. “I started on the staff at the University of Florida in 2016 working around Cedar Key. We started catching snook there, big ones, and I wrote a paper on that. I got my Ph.D. at the University of South Alabama and Dr. (Sean) Powers recruited me to come back to Alabama…