August 9, 2021 โ North Carolinaโs summer flounder trawl fishery typically occurs in waters off New Jersey and New York, outside of the Southern flounder range, with the catches landed in North Carolina under the stateโs summer flounder quota โ the lionโs share among East Coast states at 27.44 percent.
For the 2019-21 fishing seasons, the coastwide commercial quota is set at 11.53 million pounds, approximately a 49 percent increase over the previously set 2019 quota.
Harvest of both summer and Southern flounder in North Carolina remained consistent for the past several years. Prices have also remained consistent with the average retail price from $8 to $12 a pound for filets and $4 to $5 a pound for whole fish. Price to fisherman has varied between a low of $3.50 to $5 throughout the season.
Jeff Styron of Garland Fulcher Seafood, Oriental, N.C., says things are looking up after a year of covid.
โWe were basically shut down last year,โ says Mr. Styron. โWith few restaurant purchasing products, we ended up with a lot of frozen fish and slim markets. Now the demand has gone crazy.โ