The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries has announced opening dates for the 2026 commercial flounder season in internal coastal and joint fishing waters.
Opening dates for pound net management areas are as follows:
Supporter Spotlight
- Tuesday, Sept. 15 in waters north of Pamlico Sound.
- Wednesday, Sept. 30 in Pamlico Sound and its tributaries.
- Wednesday, Sept. 30 in waters from Core Sound to the South Carolina line.
Trip limits will not apply to pound net management areas.
The opening date for commercial fishers who use mobile gears, which are all gears other than pound nets, is Wednesday, Sept. 30.
Mobile gear management areas are split between the northern coast and the southern coast. The northern management area runs from waters south of the North Carolina/Virginia border to a line in Core Sound that runs approximately from the Club House on Core Banks west to a point on the shore at Davis near Marker 1. The southern management area extends from waters from the line in Core Sound described above the south to the North Carolina/South Carolina border.
For large-mesh gill nets, waters in both of those management areas will open for the harvest of flounder one day per week beginning Sept. 30 and every Wednesday thereafter while the quota remains available. Nets may be set no sooner than one hour before sunset on the prior Tuesday.
Waters for all other mobile gears will open seven days a week beginning on Sept. 30 in both the northern and southern management areas.
Supporter Spotlight
Division officials will announce closings by proclamation as necessary during the season. Harvesting periods for each management area and gear category will close “when the allowable landings are approached to maintain harvest within the landings sub-allocation,” according to division officials.
The size limit for flounder is 15 inches total length. Commercial flounder landings, including fish kept for personal consumption, must be reported on a trip ticket through a licensed fish dealer, who must report landings daily to the division.
These management measures follow requirements under Amendment 4 to the N.C. Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan. Additional information will be available in a forthcoming proclamation.
