North Wake News

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality's Division of Marine Fisheries is set to receive public comments on the draft Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan Amendment 4 from April 1 to April 30. This amendment proposes an expedited sector allocation shift to a 50/50 distribution between commercial and recreational sectors by 2025, speeding up the timeline by one year.

In-person comments can be provided at scheduled advisory committee meetings in April. The Southern Regional Advisory Committee will meet on April 8 at 6 p.m. at the Central District Office in Morehead City, NC. The Northern Regional Advisory Committee will meet on April 10 at 6 p.m. at the College of the Albemarle, Dare Campus in Manteo, NC. The Finfish Advisory Committee will have their meeting on April 16 at 6 p.m. at the Central District Office in Morehead City, NC.

For those wishing to submit written comments, there are options to use an online form available on the Southern Flounder FMP Amendment 4 webpage or send mail to the Southern Flounder FMP Amendment 4 Comments, P.O. Box 769, Morehead City, NC 28557. The deadline for comment submissions is April 30, 2025.

Amendment 3, which was adopted in 2022, initially set a phased approach to shifting the quota allocation from 70/30 to 60/40 by 2025 and to 50/50 by 2026. However, with previous short or nonexistent recreational flounder seasons, the Marine Fisheries Commission has asked the Division of Marine Fisheries to explore ways to increase recreational access while keeping within the stock rebuilding framework of Amendment 3. Amendment 4 aims to address this objective by advancing the sector allocation shift.

Looking forward, Amendment 5 will explore more comprehensive options for recreational access. A scoping period for this amendment is open until March 31, with additional information available online.