September 9, 2016 — Rhode Island summer flounder fishing – by boat or on rocky shoals – has been incredibly abundant this year; maybe too abundant.
With many millions of pounds of flounder having been caught commercially and recreationally along the mid-Atlantic coast, the federal board that controls quotas, limits, and size has announced it will cut back catches in 2017.
Large halibut, winter flounder, and summer flounder (or fluke), cousins in the same fold, have made a remarkable comeback in the last two decades after pollution, overheated water from energy plants, and overfishing nearly wiped them all out.
Yet, last week, the Mid- Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission reviewed catch specs for scup, black sea bass and bluefish, and issued modified specifications for fluke.
Both the council and the commission approved a commercial quota for fluke of 5.66 million pounds (down from 8.12 million) and a recreational harvest limit of 3.77 million pounds (down from 5.42 million) for 2017, an approximate 30 percent decrease from 2016.
This decrease in catch limits responds to the findings of the 2016 stock assessment update, which indicates that fluke have been over-fished since 2008.
According to its website, the council will forward its recommendations on fluke specifications to the NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Administrator for final approval. Local angling groups have already started a campaign to ask for a delay in the cuts until they can review stock numbers and provide their own assessments of the findings.