They are most common in the north and also live offshore from Australia, the Philippines, Indonesia, China, Taiwan and Japan.
New Zealand and Japan catch the most snapper. In some Asian countries they are farmed, as well as fished from the wild.
They live in sea water up to 100m deep and will spend most of their time on the sea floor.
But they will come close to shore, especially at night.
They will also swim into estuaries, and can be caught at Wanganui's fishing platforms. Snapper eat almost anything animal that they come across including shellfish, crabs, shrimps, barnacles, squid, crayfish, worms, starfish, kina and small fish.
They got the name snapper from crushing pipi shells with their teeth, Mr Bailey said, to get at the animal inside.
They don't breed until they reach about 30cm in length. On the East Coast it could take them nine years to get that big. On the West Coast they grow faster, but there are also fewer of them. When they reach breeding age, a few of the males become female.
Snapper are know to live up to 40 years off the Australian coast. They can grow to a 1m long and weigh 15kg. But Mr Bailey said the big, old fish were not as tasty as the "shoalies" that are 30-50cm long. Fishing people jealously guard their right to catch snapper.
When the Government wanted to reduce the daily catch limit in the upper North Island it received 47,709 submissions from irate fishers.
The new limit of seven fish at least 30cm long is to be imposed from April 1.
The daily catch limit off the Wanganui coast is higher - 10 fish per person.
"I would like to see it reduced a little bit so they can breed up. I think most people around here are the same," Mr Bailey said.
