The National Marine Fisheries Service and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, in conjunction with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, share oversight of summer flounder because it is a migratory stock that moves along the East Coast from North Carolina to Maine and up into Canadian waters. The coast-wide stock of summer flounder is considered overfished, but has been steadily rebuilding under a quota system since 1993.

Each year scientists with these organizations determine how many summer flounder can safely be removed from the population and allow the stock to adequately repopulate itself and continue to recover. Once that figure is established, the allocation, referred to as total allowable landings (TAL), is divided between commercial (60 percent/14.58 million pounds in 2002) and recreational sectors (40 percent/ 9.72 million pounds in 2002), then each state is given an allotment based on historical landings for each sector. The 2002 TAL is 23.85 million pounds; however, the 2003 TAL is anticipated to be 4 percent lower. At a recent meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Board, the 2003 TAL reduction was recommended to compensate for excessive landings from the recreational fishery - visit http://www.mafmc.org/mid-atlantic/press/2002/pr02-18.htm for more details on this issue.

North Carolina receives the largest commercial quota of any state, 27.4 percent, because historically the state has landed significant quantities of commercially-caught flounder. Last year, anglers in North Carolina landed 5.6 percent of the coast-wide recreational harvest. We have minimal recreational landings of summer flounder, especially when compared to states like New Jersey, New York and Virginia.

Commercial Harvest Quota
Each year, the commercial sector in North Carolina is given a harvest quota, of which the state allows 70 percent to be harvested in the winter and the remaining 30 percent to be harvested in the late fall. During the commercial fishing season, landings are reported on a daily basis. When the quota is reached, the season is closed. If the quota is exceeded, it is deducted from future commercial allowances. In 2001, the commercial quota in North Carolina was 2,651,470 pounds and fishermen landed 2,775,116 pounds. The 123,646-pound overage will be taken off in 2003 because it was landed after October, when the quota for the upcoming year is set.

The North Carolina commercial quota for 2002 is 4,001,133 pounds. The commercial season for summer flounder in our state closed March 28, 2002, and will not reopen until late fall. Weather and the availability of fish are the major factors in how quickly the flounder are harvested. There have been times when the winter season only lasted for a few days. More recently, the season runs for several months because the NCDMF sets daily landing limits to try and stabilize the season.

Commercial fishermen have very little impact on summer flounder stocks in North Carolina's internal waters; their landings only constitute only 2 percent of the catch.

Recreational Harvest Target
The recreational sector works differently because there is no instantaneous reporting mechanism for anglers. Instead of a commercial quota, recreational anglers are allocated a harvest target. To determine how many fish are caught by anglers, interviews are conducted by recreational port agents at fishing piers, along the beach, at fishing access sites and at boat ramps, where the fish are identified and measured. During the interview, anglers are also asked where the fish was caught. Approximately 20,000 anglers are interviewed in North Carolina each year. Also, random phone surveys are conducted about recreational fishing activity. Estimates of total recreational catch, based on these interviews and surveys, are produced every two months - this program is called the Marine Recreational Fishing Statistics Survey.

Over the past six years, recreational fishermen along the Atlantic seaboard have exceeded their harvest target by 27 million pounds. Until last year, the National Marine Fisheries Service did not require the recreational sector to address their overages. Threatened with lawsuits by the Environmental Defense Fund and others in the environmental community, the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, agreed to start requiring the recreational sector to adjust their harvest restrictions if the harvest target was exceeded. That is why we had to raise our size limit for summer flounder last year from 15 inches to 15.5 inches and implement a two-week closed season.

Even with the increased limit and the short closure, we still exceeded the harvest target. The 2001 recreational harvest target for North Carolina was 223,000 summer flounder and it is estimated we landed 327,249 fish - exceeding the target by 104,249 fish. East Coast states, from North Carolina to Maine, faced similar over harvest situations, with the exception of Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York.

This year, North Carolina's recreational harvest reduction goal is 32.2 percent - 28.4 percent for this year and a 3.8 percent adjustment for not meeting conservation objectives during last year's closed season. Other states also had to reduce recreational harvest, ranging from 43.8 percent for Virginia to 3.5 percent for Delaware. For 2002, North Carolina's recreational harvest target is 246,000 summer flounder.

To achieve our harvest reduction goal, recreational flounder season was closed in the ocean from April 3 - July 3, including hook-and-line, gigging, spearing and harvest from RCGL gear. In the ocean waters, the minimum size limit is 15.5 inches at eight fish per day. Ocean waters in the southeastern part of the coast were reopened to recreational flounder harvest on May 8, after it was determined that the closure would have no meaningful impact on meeting the harvest reduction goals - most summer flounder are harvested above Bogue Inlet.

The most recent evaluation of recreational summer flounder landings show North Carolina is going to exceed this year's 246,000-fish harvest target, unless changes are made to its management strategy. Even with the three-month closure and maintaining the 15.5-inch size limit, it is estimated we will exceed the harvest target if some action is not taken soon.

In analyzing the fishery, the state has also seen a shift in the distribution of landings from the ocean to the inlets and sounds. The ocean closure may have resulted in a few anglers moving inshore to fish, but those numbers are minimal. Managers feel the landings shift is more indicative of a change in the population distribution, with more summer flounder frequenting North Carolina's inlets and sounds. Based on this year's projection of landings, N.C. can no longer manage this fishery with measures that apply only to the ocean.

Additionally, in the previous five years, North Carolina saw a 46 percent increase in the number of recreational anglers fishing Tar Heel coastal and ocean waters. This dramatic rise in effort impacts all recreational fisheries and their associated management strategies.

N.C. Estimated Recreational Effort

Year 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001

Active Anglers 1,355,123 1,090,798 1,293,051 1,811,725 1,978,508

Pounds Harvested 19,901,795 15,378,207 18,041,060 21,220,463 23,869,793

Fishing Trips 4,891,509 4,461,461 4,555,039 6,090,985 6,559,792

Management Options
To compensate for the projected recreational over-harvest of ocean-caught flounder and the increased inside landings of summer flounder, North Carolina is raising the size limit for all recreationally caught flounder in its internal waters to 14 inches effective Oct. 1, 2002. Increasing the size limit should help the state meet it's 2002 harvest target and prevent a total, year-long recreational ocean closure for flounder in 2003.

Earlier in the year, the state lifted the ocean closure from the New River Inlet to the South Carolina state line, because relatively few summer flounder were harvested in the southern counties. Even though summer flounder landings are lower in the southern portion of the state, the increased size limit will still apply to all inside waters. Area closures take away the possibility of landing any fish and are only used as a last resort. Increasing the minimum size will reduce harvest while still allowing limited fishing opportunities.

The increased internal size limit will also prove beneficial to overfished southern flounder stocks. A state fishery management plan for southern flounder is currently being developed to set long-term recovery strategies for that stock. Several conservation groups have been calling for increased internal size limits to conserve southern flounder stocks while the plan is being finalized.