Old North News

The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality's Division of Marine Fisheries has opened the public comment period for draft Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan Amendment 4. Comments will be accepted from April 1 to April 30.

Draft Amendment 4 proposes to shift the sector allocation to 50/50 between commercial and recreational fishing by 2025, one year earlier than initially planned. In-person comments can be submitted at three advisory committee meetings in April.

The first meeting is the Southern Regional Advisory Committee on April 8 at 6 p.m. at the Central District Office in Morehead City, NC. The Northern Regional Advisory Committee will meet on April 10 at 6 p.m. at the College of the Albemarle, Dare Campus, Room 110 in Manteo, NC. The last meeting, the Finfish Advisory Committee, will also be held at the Central District Office on April 16 at 6 p.m.

Written comments will be accepted via an online form available on the Information on Southern Flounder FMP Amendment 4 webpage or by mail to Southern Flounder FMP Amendment 4 Comments, P.O. Box 769, Morehead City, N.C. 28557. The deadline for all submissions is April 30, 2025.

Amendment 3, enacted in 2022, called for a quota allocation shift from 70/30 to 60/40 in 2025 and 50/50 in 2026. However, following two short recreational flounder seasons and one without any, the Marine Fisheries Commission tasked the Division with increasing recreational access while maintaining stock rebuilding mandates from Amendment 3. Amendment 4 expedites the 50/50 allocation shift to 2025.

Long-term solutions for recreational access will be explored in Amendment 5, currently being developed. Its scoping period is open until March 31. More information on Amendment 5 can be found at the provided URL.