Frustrated fishermen: NC recreational anglers go political in fight over flounder closure

With flounder off the fishing table for the time being, North Carolina's recreational fishermen are turning to legislators in Raleigh to see about winning permission to cast for arguably the state's most popular game fish.

In May, the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries dredged up a firestorm by announcing that there would be no recreational flounder season in 2024.

The move comes after years of smaller and smaller windows for recreational fishermen to catch the popular fish, culminating in last year's short two-week harvest window.

But officials said even that short fishing period was too much for the already depleted flounder fishery.

"Estimates from 2023 indicate the recreational catch exceeded the quota allowed under a stock rebuilding plan that was included in Amendment 3 to the Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan and adopted by the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission," stated a marine fisheries' release.

The move, regulators hope, will help the state's struggling flounder stocks rebound after years of overfishing and an intense war of words between commercial and recreational anglers as to who is to blame for the fishery's woes.

STATE OFFICIALS:No NC recreational flounder season in 2024

But the decision, albeit one most scientists believe is the right move if the state is serious about a long-term recovery for the fishery, has left recreational fishermen − who never had to deal with a closed flounder season until 2019 − frustrated and angry.

Adding fuel to the fire are the policies of neighboring states that have much less stringent rules when it comes to flounder. In South Carolina, for example, recreational fishermen are allowed to catch up to five flounder a day, 10 per charter boat.

The result has been the launch of several grassroots efforts to pressure the N.C. General Assembly, which funds marine fisheries, to allow some sort of recreational fishing season this year.

One of those efforts is headlined by the Ocean Isle Fishing Center, which in the past advocated successfully to get menhaden fishing banned from just off Brunswick County's beaches − a move that was later extended statewide.

"We are not scientists, so we are not going to argue the science (marine fisheries) uses to make its decisions. We are boots on the ground fisherman, and our experience shows us (marine fisheries) is in outer space in terms of the health of the fishery, both flounder and red snapper," the fishing center stated in a June 17 letter to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission thanking the commission for coming out against the closure of the 2024 recreational season in coastal waters.

The wildlife commission manages the flounder fishery in the state's inland waters and some waters jointly managed with marine fisheries. The agency is currently accepting public comments to see if it should open the waters it manages for a limited recreational flounder season this year.

Capt. Brant McMullan, owner of the OIB fishing center, said he doesn't see the fight over flounder as between recreational and commercial fishermen, but one over what exactly is happening with the fishery. And in places like Brunswick County, he said a lack of flounder in the water isn't the problem.

While experience and daily trips on the water are showing locals a healthy fish population, regulators are saying otherwise.

That's costing Brunswick County business, and potentially even worse making fishermen question the state's fisheries management practices, McMullan said.

In 2022, the last year for which figures are available, North Carolina sold more than 485,000 fishing licenses. The majority of the permits sold were annual licenses to state residents, many of them to allow fishing in both coastal and non-coastal public waters. But nearly 146,000 of them were short, 10-day licenses sold to non-residents − in other words tourists who fill the hotels, restaurants and tackle shops of many small towns along the coast.

“Anyone who wants to catch a flounder or inshore fish, why would they come to Brunswick County, and they don’t," he said, alluding to visiting fishermen choosing the nearby Palmetto State instead. “There are plenty of fish, so just give us a little something. Let us make a dinner."

FLOUNDER FALLOUT:With the 2024 NC recreational season scrapped, what happens now?

'We don't mind sacrificing'

With lawmakers in Raleigh mired in budget discussions and eager to end the short session and head home for the summer, it isn't known how successful any legislative effort to force the state to open a recreational flounder season in 2024 will be. The two-week 2023 season ran Sept. 15-29.

McMullan said most of the state legislators he's heard from, especially coastal ones, have given the recreational fisherman's flounder plight a sympathetic ear. But again, time and other political priorities could be against the recreational anglers.

Still, McMullan said he thought recreational fishermen would be fine if they could at least see some light at the end of the tunnel from constant regulations and catch cutbacks, such as a promise of maybe a longer recreational season next year or an increase in how many flounder fishermen could keep in return for all of the recent closures.

"We don't mind sacrificing," he said of fishermen. "But there just seems to be no hope on the horizon.

"We all like to fish and we just want to keep a couple fish instead of being cut off at the knees."

Reporter Gareth McGrath can be reached at GMcGrath@Gannett.com or @GarethMcGrathSN on X/Twitter. This story was produced with financial support from the Green South Foundation and the Prentice Foundation. The USA TODAY Network maintains full editorial control of the work.