The Silk snapper is found in western Atlantic waters, as far north as Cape Hatteras, North Carolina and Bermuda and as far south as Brazil. They are also found in the Gulf of Mexico along the continental shelf. Information on the stock structure of the Silk snapper is not available. This profile refers to the Nicaraguan Western Central Atlantic Management Unit.

In Nicaragua, snappers comprise 48% of catches landed in the Caribbean, followed by sea bass (29%), Groupers (6%), and 29 other varieties of finfish (15%) comprising rest of the catches (INPESCA 2011). In 2010, 1226 tonnes of snappers was landed of which 927 tonnes was landed in the artisanal sector, while 299 tonnes was landed from the industrial sector (INPESCA 2011).