09/03/2026
FLOUNDER REALITY
I am a North Carolina commercial fisherwoman, but I am part of the roughly 96% of active commercial fishermen who are not involved in the Atlantic Ocean flounder fishery.
Here is the part most people do not know.
Just 67 commercial participants, made 224 trips and landed 2,223,288 pounds of Atlantic Ocean summer flounder in (2024, latest info available)
That same year, North Carolina’s entire inshore commercial southern flounder fishery landed 368,517 pounds.
A group of only 67 participants was responsible for approximately 86% of all commercial flounder landed in North Carolina that year.
Nearly six out of every seven pounds.
When the public hears that “commercial fishermen” landed more than 2.5 million pounds of flounder, every one of us gets blamed. But the overwhelming majority of that harvest came from a small, specialized ocean fishery that most commercial fishermen cannot enter.
This is not a license we can simply apply for.
To originally qualify, a fisherman had to land at least 1,000 pounds of Atlantic Ocean flounder from the same vessel during two of three specific license years: 1992 to 1993, 1993 to 1994 or 1994 to 1995. They also had to hold the required fishing or vessel license during those years.
Access today is tied to fishing history established more than 30 years ago. If you did not establish that history then, you cannot go out and earn it now.
Even if I had millions of dollars to buy and rig an ocean-going flounder trawler, I still could not simply qualify. I would have to find someone willing to sell an already-qualified vessel with the license and its historical landing rights attached.
I am not trying to take anything away from another fisherman. I am asking people to look at who is actually landing the fish before blaming everyone who holds a commercial license.
Now let me tell you what flounder access looks like for fishermen like me.
The flounder fishery for folks like me is southern flounder caught in North Carolina’s sounds, rivers and internal waters. In 2026, our mobile gear season does not begin until September 30.
Large mesh gill nets may harvest flounder only on Wednesdays while quota remains. Other mobile gear may begin September 30, but each area and gear category can close as soon as its small allocation is approached.
There is no guaranteed number of fishing days.
Every fish must be at least 15 inches. Every flounder landed, including one kept for personal use, must be reported through a licensed fish dealer. Those landings are reported to Marine Fisheries daily.
Meanwhile, the Atlantic Ocean summer flounder fishery operated for much of 2024 with limits reaching as high as 20,000 pounds per trip. It was completely closed for only about 17 days. Even during its restricted fall period, vessels could still land up to 100 pounds per trip before a 10,000-pound limit reopened in December.
I am proud to be a North Carolina commercial fisherwoman. But I will not accept responsibility for millions of pounds of flounder landed by a small, limited-entry ocean fishery that I cannot access.
Before blaming all commercial fishermen for North Carolina’s flounder landings, it is important to understand who actually has access to each fishery.
