The 2025 recreational flounder season will open at 12:01 a.m. Sept. 1 in coastal and joint waters and close at 11:59 p.m. Sept. 14.
The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries announced Wednesday the two-week season for recreational hook-and-line and gig fisheries.
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Anglers are permitted one fish per person per day that is at least 15 inches from the tip of the snout to the tip of the tail.
Harvesting flounder with a recreational commercial gear license will be prohibited.
The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission’s flounder season will be open Sept. 1-14 as well, so the season, size and daily creel limit will be consistent across jurisdictions.
The season, size and creel limits comply with provisions of the N.C. Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan Amendment 3, which specifies that season and possession limits be set annually to keep the fishery within the recreational quota.
The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission is scheduled to vote on adopting the draft Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan Amendment 4 at its Aug. 20-22 business meeting. If the amendment is adopted, it will result in a 50/50 quota allocation between the commercial and recreational fishery, whereby each sector would get 266,176 pounds, a quota increase of 53,235 pounds for the recreational sector.
The additional quota would reduce the risk of overages in 2025.
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The commercial flounder season for internal coastal and joint fishing waters, which include the rivers, creeks and sounds, will be announced in a separate news release and proclamation.
