The 2025 recreational and commercial harvest seasons for flounder in North Carolina were recently announced. Below are the key details for both sectors:
Recreational Rules
- Season dates: September 1-14, 2025
- One flounder per person per day, with a minimum size of 15 inches in total length
- The season is unified this year, with the same regulations applying across Inland, Joint, and Coastal waters
Commercial Rules
Commercial flounder harvest is divided by gear type: mobile gears (e.g., gill nets and gigs) and pound nets. Each gear type operates under specific rules and management areas. The minimum size is 15 inches in total length.
Mobile Gears (large mesh gill nets)
- Opening date: Wednesday, October 1, 2025
- Harvest is allowed one day per week, starting at the opening Wednesday, until the quota is reached
Pound Nets
- Opening dates:
- Northern area: Monday, September 15, 2025
- Central and Southern areas: Wednesday, October 1, 2025
Commercial landings are monitored through the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries’ Trip Ticket Program. Dealers are required to report the previous day’s flounder landings by noon, allowing the division to monitor area and gear landings in near real-time and adjust harvest accordingly.
Flounder by the Numbers
Quota Allocation
The 2025 Total Allowable Landings for flounder is set at 532,352 pounds. Following a recent decision by the Marine Fisheries Commission, the allocation is evenly split between the recreational and commercial sectors at 266,176 pounds each. On the commercial side, 70% of the quota is allocated to the pound net fishery. Additionally, 15,682 pounds have been set aside for dead discards, which includes mortality from catch-and-release angling and bycatch from commercial gear.
The 2025 quota is based on reductions specified in the 2019 Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan. The stock assessment, which contained data through 2017, concluded that spawning stock biomass was too low and the rate of removals (fishing mortality) was too high. To improve the flounder fishery, the Marine Fisheries Commission approved a 72% reduction in total removals from the 2017 catch estimate, which was just under 2 million pounds.
Economic Trends
Historically, southern flounder has ranked among the top five commercial species based on point-of-sale value. However, due to season reductions, the commercial value fell significantly, from a peak of over $7 million in 2017 to less than $1 million in 2023. The broader economic impact followed a similar trend. In 2017, the total sales impact on the state’s economy was estimated at $42 million. By 2023, that number had dropped sharply to $3.7 million.
On the recreational side, trends in the number of fishing trips for flounder fell from a high of 1.7 million trips in 2015 to approximately 414,000 trips in 2023. As a result, trip expenditures (bait, ice, gas, food, beverages, etc.) dropped from a high of $446 million in 2015 to an estimated $107 million in 2023.
This story was first published in our weekly newsletter. Click here to subscribe.