The flounder conflict continues into next week’s North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC) meeting, which will be held in Raleigh from Aug. 21-23. The bone of contention is between the MFC and the North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission (WRC) about this year's recreational flounder season.
The only agenda items for the meeting mention flounder, including a report from the state’s Division of Marine Fisheries staff on the Southern Flounder Stock Assessment Update and the 2023 Southern Flounder landings. According to Island Free Press, the report is expected to be the basis for deciding how much quota is available for a commercial season in the sounds and coastal rivers that has previously taken place in September and October.
The MFC chairman, Rob Bizzell, insists that his panel will not open the flounder fishery to recreational anglers this year. However, a vote last month by the NC WRC would allow recreational fishing, which would be a hook-and-line season for Sept. 1, 2, 7, and 8 with a daily limit of one fish per angler and a minimum size of 15 inches within the waters that fall under their jurisdiction. The areas would include joint waters that the MFC also oversees, creating controversy over whether or not to open the recreational season.
WRC chair Monty Crump has been trading letters with Bizzell to hold an emergency meeting to reconsider how southern flounder is allocated between commercial and recreational sectors to allow the recreational season in all waters. Bizzell said in letters, “MFC will be sticking to its plan adopted this spring to not allow a recreational season for flounder this year.” He also stated that fishermen who try to keep flounder caught in or transported through both coastal and joint waters will be subject to enforcement efforts of the NC Marine Patrol.
The two separate commissions manage the state's waters. MFC is a nine-member panel appointed by the governor that covers the Atlantic Ocean, coastal sounds, and rivers up to a certain point. WRC has 19 members that the governor also appoints with the general assembly and manages parts of the same coastal sounds and rivers, known as joint waters and all inland waterways.
MFC and WRC manage certain species, with MFC covering saltwater species and WRC covering freshwater. However, the two commissions overlap regarding striped bass, flounder, and a handful of others that spend their lives in both salt and fresh water. Three species of flounder are found in the state’s coastal waters: Summer, Gulf, and Southern flounder. However, Southern flounder are the only species considered overfished.
The MFC voted not to allow a recreational season in May for flounder in state coastal waters. In a news release, they stated that this was " to preserve the Southern flounder resource.” In recent years, about a two-week-long season has taken place in September in the northern half of the coast. The state has recently put strict limits on flounder fishing, including limited seasons and outright closures.
Virginia and South Carolina, where flounder can also be fished, have a less strict recreational season, with an allowance of multiple fish being kept per person per day. The NC MFC meeting will begin at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 21, and go until Friday, Aug. 23. The commission will hold public comment sessions at 6 p.m. on Wednesday and at 9 a.m. on Thursday. To view more agenda items, click here.
