Flounder harvest closed Thursday for gill nets, gigs and other mobile gears in waters in the southern part of the state because landings approached the quota sub-allocation for this gear and area category, North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries announced Friday.
Mobile gears, which are all gears other than pound nets used to harvest flounder, are divided into two management areas.
Supporter Spotlight
The northern management area includes waters south of the North Carolina and Virginia border to a line in Core Sound that runs approximately from the Club House on Core Banks westerly to a point on the shore at Davis near Marker “1.” The southern area extends from the line in Core Sound south to the North Carolina/South Carolina border.
Officials said that if it is determined that quota is available for additional harvest days for the area, further proclamations will be issued.
Landings were allocated by Flounder Management Area and Gear Categories as outlined in Amendment 4 to the species’ management plan.
“Fishermen using gill nets who hold an active Estuarine Gill Net Permit and have been issued a confirmation number or assigned an observer through the Observer Trip Scheduling System are not permitted to legally fish large-mesh gill nets in the Mobile Gear Southern Management Area. However, they are allowed to set this gear in the Mobile Gear Northern Management Area, which remains open,” officials said.
