The commercial flounder season will close at 6:00 p.m. on Oct. 21 in the Pound Net Central Management Area. Additionally, flounder pound net sets in this area must be rendered inoperable by 6:00 p.m. on Oct. 21 during the closed flounder season.
The commercial flounder season for pound nets in the Central Management Area is closing because the quota is nearly caught, and it will not reopen to flounder harvest in 2022. The Pound Net Central Management Area includes Pamlico Sound and its tributaries.
The commercial flounder season for pound nets in the Northern and Southern Pound Net Management Areas closed on Oct. 6. The pound net quota is nearly caught for both management areas. Flounder pound nets in these areas must be rendered inoperable. The Northern and Southern Pound Net Management Areas will not reopen to flounder harvest in 2022.
The commercial flounder season for gigs and hook-and-line in the Mobile Gear Northern Management Area reopened on Oct. 14 with a 50-fish per person per day trip limit. The harvest season will close when the Total Allowable Landings for this sector is approached. The Mobile Gear Northern Management Area includes the upper portion of Core Sound and waters north to the Virginia State line.
The commercial flounder season in the Mobile Gear Southern Management Area closed on Oct. 13. The mobile gear quota is nearly caught for this management area, and it will not reopen to flounder harvest in 2022. The Mobile Gear Southern Management Area encompasses the lower portion of Core Sound and waters south to the South Carolina state line.
For more specifics on the commercial flounder season for internal coastal waters, see Proclamation FF-54-2022.
The recreational flounder season closed Sept. 30.
North Carolina’s southern flounder fisheries are managed under the Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan Amendment 3. For more information on the management measures, see the Southern Flounder Information Page under Hot Topics.