The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries is asking recreational anglers to donate flounder carcasses during the 2025 season, which runs from September 1 to September 14. The collected carcasses will be used for research.
Anglers who donate a flounder carcass and fill out a required catch-card—one card per fish per person—will have a chance to win one of two rod and reel combinations, with a limit of one entry per person. Supplies and catch-cards are available at each donation site, and participants must complete the cards legibly and truthfully to qualify.
This year, the division has added temporary donation sites in addition to seven locations that collect carcasses throughout the year. Temporary sites include Quarter Deck in Bath, Chasin Tails Outdoors Bait & Tackle in Atlantic Beach, Pelagic Hunter in Sneads Ferry, Intracoastal Angler in Wilmington, Carolina Beach Municipal Docks, and Ocean Isle Fishing Center.
Year-round collection points are Frisco Rod & Gun (Frisco), Jennette’s Pier (Nags Head), Eastside Bait & Tackle (Washington), Cape Pointe Marina (Harkers Island), N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries Headquarters (Morehead City), Tex’s Tackle (Wilmington), and Clem’s Seafood (Southport).
When preparing fish for donation, anglers should leave the head and tail intact and keep the guts or reproductive organs if possible. Those fishing on charter or head boats should inform the fish cleaner that they intend to donate the carcass.
Division biologists will use these samples to measure fish size, determine sex when possible, and remove otoliths—ear bones—for age analysis. The data collected will contribute to future assessments of flounder stocks.
The 2025 recreational flounder season opens at 12:01 a.m. on September 1 and closes at 11:59 p.m. on September 14. Each angler may keep one fish per day with a minimum size limit of 15 inches total length. More details can be found in Proclamation FF-25-2025.
Commercially caught flounder will be sampled separately by division biologists at fish houses; commercial catches should not be left at Carcass Collection Program freezers.
Further information about North Carolina’s Carcass Collection program is available on the Division’s website. For questions about participation or procedures, contact Amanda Macek at 252-515-5537 or amanda.macek@deq.nc.gov.
