North Raleigh Today

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality's Division of Marine Fisheries is inviting public input on the draft Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan Amendment 4. Comments will be accepted from April 1 to April 30. The proposed Amendment 4 aims to accelerate the shift in sector allocation to a 50/50 commercial and recreational split by the year 2025, one year ahead of the original schedule.

The division will hold three advisory committee meetings in April for in-person comments. The Southern Regional Advisory Committee will meet on April 8 at the Central District Office in Morehead City. The Northern Regional Advisory Committee will convene on April 10 at the College of the Albemarle's Dare Campus in Manteo. The Finfish Advisory Committee will have its meeting on April 16 at the Central District Office in Morehead City. Each meeting starts at 6 p.m.

Written comments can be submitted online via the Southern Flounder FMP Amendment 4 webpage or by mail to Southern Flounder FMP Amendment 4 Comments, P.O. Box 769, Morehead City, N.C. 28557. All submissions are due by April 30, 2025.

Amendment 3, adopted in 2022, planned for a shift in quota allocation from 70/30 commercial to recreational in 2025 and 50/50 in 2026. However, after two years of limited recreational flounder seasons and one year without any recreational season, the Marine Fisheries Commission instructed the division to identify ways to improve recreational access while adhering to stock rebuilding requirements outlined in Amendment 3. Amendment 4 seeks to fulfill this task by advancing the 50/50 sector allocation shift to 2025.

Furthermore, longer-term solutions for recreational access will be explored in Amendment 5, which is currently under development. The scoping period for Amendment 5 remains open until March 31, and more information is accessible on their website.