The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday afternoon was postponed just hours before it was to take place, as the panel was prepared to move forward with a new management plan for summer flounder.
Commission Chairman Rob Bizzell contacted commission members this morning to share his decision to revisit the flounder allocation decision made during the February 2021 MFC meeting. Chairman Bizzell is calling a special meeting to be held on Wednesday, March 31 at 1 p.m. via webinar to revisit the allocation issue. Links and other information on the March 31 meeting to reconsider southern flounder allocation will be announced later.
Thursday’s meeting had been scheduled for the commission to review and vote on sending the draft Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan Amendment 3 for public and advisory committee review. The review and vote will be rescheduled during or after the March 31 meeting.
At its February meeting, the commission selected sector harvest allocations of 70% commercial and 30% recreational for the upcoming Amendment 3 to the Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan.
Among other management measures, Amendment 3 proposes quotas for the commercial and recreational southern flounder fisheries. The 70% commercial/30% recreational split is similar to the landings split in 2017, the terminal year of the stock assessment.
Other sector harvest allocations the commission considered included commercial/recreational splits of 70/30, 65/35, 60/30 with a 10% allotment for gigging, 60/40, and 50/50.