The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC) wants to look at ways to allow more recreational access to flounder fishing in the future.

At its business meeting last week, the MFC asked the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) Director to seek permission from the Department of Environmental Quality Secretary to move up the schedule to review the Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan beginning this year. The intent is to allow for more recreational access while maintaining the rebuilding requirements of Amendment 3 to the plan.

For this year, the MFC supported a measure to provide clarity for recreational anglers and align DMF enforcement with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission’s (WRC) limits for flounder in Joint Fishing Waters.

DMF Director Kathy Rawls today issued Proclamation FF-35-2024 that sets a recreational bag limit of one fish per person per day, with a 15-inch minimum size limit, for flounder caught by hook-and-line in Joint Fishing Waters of the state on Sept. 1, 2, 7, and 8, which is equivalent to regulations established by the WRC.

The measures only apply to flounder caught by hook-and-line in Joint Fishing Waters. The proclamation does not open Coastal Fishing Waters to flounder harvest (see interactive map of Coastal, Joint, and Inland Fishing Waters).

The motion and proclamation make it clear that neither the MFC nor the DMF endorses the flounder limits established by WRC or the method by which the limits were derived. Rather, the MFC and DMF recognize that conflicting regulations in these waters creates confusion for anglers and an enforcement gap that will impede Marine Patrol efforts in Joint Fishing Waters.

In other business, the MFC voted to send the Draft Spotted Seatrout Fishery Management Plan Amendment 1 to public and advisory committee review.

The draft amendment includes options for management to end overfishing or otherwise benefit the spotted seatrout stock, such as size limit changes, season closures, changes to bag limits and trips limits, stop net management, adaptive management strategies, vessel limits, effort controls, various gear requirements, commercial hook-and-line harvest, and cold stun management. The DMF’s preliminary recommendations, which are subject to change after public comment, are:

• A January through February statewide harvest closure for the commercial and recreational sectors.
• A 14- to 20-inch recreational slot limit with an allowance for one fish greater than 26 inches.
• A three-fish recreational bag limit.
• No change to the commercial size limit.
• A statewide October through December extended weekend commercial harvest closure from 11:59 p.m. Friday to 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.
• No change in the quota for the Bogue Banks stop net fishery, but to formalize management of the fishery in Amendment 1.
• An adaptive management framework.
• Eliminating the for-hire captain and crew allowance.
• Extending the fishery closure through June 30 following a cold stun.

Further management is needed because the 2022 Spotted Seatrout Stock Assessment found that the stock is not overfished, but overfishing is occurring. This means the population is currently large enough to sustain itself, but fishing is removing fish from the population at an unsustainable rate.

The public comment period will be announced at a later date.

In other action, the MFC:

• Approved notice of text to begin the rulemaking process to amend or adopt rules for the below three issues. A public comment period will be held this fall.
  • 15A NCAC 03J .0301 to Simplify Pot Marking Requirements
  • 15A NCAC 03M .0523 for False Albacore Management
  • 15A NCAC 03O .0601-.0606 for the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact
• Set the annual cap for the number of Standard Commercial Fishing Licenses available through the Eligibility Pool for fiscal year 2024-2025 at 500.
• Re-elected Commissioner Sammy Corbett as MFC vice chairman.
• Suspended portions of two MFC rules for an indefinite period:
  • Paragraph (a) of MFC Rule 15A NCAC 03M .0502 MULLET to allow the continued striped mullet recreational possession limits put in place by proclamation to implement Amendment 2 to the Striped Mullet Fishery Management Plan;
  • Paragraph (a) of MFC Rule 15A NCAC 03L .0205 CRAB SPAWNING SANCTUARIES to allow the continued year-round trawl closure in crab spawning sanctuaries put in place by proclamation to implement Amendment 2 to the North Carolina Shrimp Fishery Management Plan.