Public comment opens for draft Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan Amendment 4

The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries will accept public comment on draft Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan Amendment 4 from April 1 to April 30. Draft Amendment 4 would expedite the sector allocation shift to 50/50 (commercial/recreational) by one year to 2025.

In-person comments may be made at any of three advisory committee meetings scheduled in April: 

April 8, 2025 6 p.m.  Southern Regional Advisory Committee Central District Office  5285 Highway 70 West  Morehead City, NC 28557

April 10, 2025 6 p.m. Northern Regional Advisory Committee College of the Albemarle  Dare Campus – Room 110  205 US-64  Manteo, NC 27954

April 16, 2025 6 p.m. Finfish Advisory Committee Central District Office  5285 Highway 70 West  Morehead City, NC 28557

Written comments may be submitted in any of the following ways:

The deadline to submit comments is April 30, 2025.  Amendment 3, adopted in 2022, prescribed a shift in quota allocation from 70/30 (commercial/recreational) to 60/40 in 2025 and 50/50 in 2026. However, following two years with short recreational flounder seasons and one year with no recreational flounder season, the Marine Fisheries Commission tasked the Division of Marine Fisheries with finding ways to allow more recreational access while maintaining the stock rebuilding requirements in Amendment 3. Amendment 4 addresses this task by expediting the 50/50 sector allocation shift to occur in 2025 instead of 2026.

More long-term, comprehensive options for recreational access will be considered in Amendment 5, which is currently under development. A scoping period for Amendment 5 is open until March 31. More information on Amendment 5 is available at https://www.deq.nc.gov/information-southern-flounder-amendment-5.