Flounder Season

Southern Flounder Keeper Season for Public AnglersThe N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries announced on Wednesday the recreational flounder keeper season for this year will open at 12:01 a.m. Sept. 15 and close at 11:59 p.m. Sept. 29.

The two-week season will still limit public anglers to a one-fish per person, per day bag limit and a 15-inch minimum size limit for both hook-and-line and gig fisheries.Harvest of flounder with a Recreational Commercial Gear License will be prohibited.

The season and possession limits are set annually to keep the fishery within the recreational quota approved by the Marine Fisheries Commission in the N.C. Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan Amendment 3. The plan also specifies any overage to the recreational Total Allowable Catch (TAC) requires a pound for pound payback subtracted from the following year’s allowable harvest. In 2022, the recreational TAC of 170,655 pounds was exceeded by 56,340 pounds. For 2023, this means the TAC for the recreational season will be 114,315 pounds. Discard mortality is accounted for in the estimates of TAC. During 2022, dead discards both during and outside of the southern flounder recreational season contributed significantly to the total removals from this fishery and the overage in the TAC. For this reason, the Division discourages anglers from targeting flounder for catch-and-release after they have caught their one-fish limit or when the season is closed. During the open season, the Division also discourages anglers from high-grading (retaining a fish until a larger one is caught) as this increases post-release mortality leading to additional dead discards.The commercial southern flounder seasons will be announced in a separate news release. Will the commercial proclamation also fully address discard mortality in the commercial fishing sector? How many juvenile flounder are killed in shrimp trawl nets each year? Will this be counted against the commercial TAC? Same for flounder discard mortality in crab pots?