August 12, 2020 — Summer flounder landings are worth around $26.5 million when landed at docks in the Mid-Atlantic states, but the growing stock of flatfish generates more than $259 million in total economic impact, according to a new study from the Science Center for Marine Fisheries.
For years, “of all fishery species managed by MAFMC (Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council) the summer flounder is one of the most contentious,” notes Murray, who is also associated with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.
“Stock status has recently improved from overfished – to less or even not so – with the inclusion of recent MRIP (Marine Recreational Information Program) data on recreational fishery landings. A substantial increase in biomass estimates is reported in the most recent assessment, and there are expectations of continued debate over division of quota among commercial and recreational fisheries. Absent from this debate is an economic assessment for the commercial sector of the fishery,” Murray wrote in the introduction to his report, which aims “to provide a current market and economic impact assessment specifically for the Mid-Atlantic summer flounder fishery.”