WANCHESE, N.C. — A bill is in the North Carolina state legislature that could create more access to flounder and red snapper fisheries.
Access, especially to flounder, has been a frustration for commercial and recreational fishermen in the Outer Banks for years.
“It makes it a lot harder for people like me trying to make a living fishing," said Froggy Thornton, who has been a charter boat captain for more than two decades.
Like many commercial and recreational fishermen we’ve spoken to, Thornton feels there needs to be more access to flounder.
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House Bill 442 "Restore Flounder/Red Snapper Season" in the North Carolina Legislature could change things. North Carolina State Representative Ed Goodwin is one of the bills sponsors.
“I thought I was a big man when I stuck my first big flounder and pulled that thing up out the water and dropped it in the boat. But that's gone, a man and his son can't have that pleasure anymore," Goodwin said.
The bill would direct the Fisheries Director, Marine Fisheries Commission and the Division of Marine Fisheries to open access to flounder and red snapper. In the filing it includes:
- Open the southern flounder fishery for recreational fishing at least six weeks a year.
- Set a commercial quota for southern flounder harvest at 750,000 pounds each year.
- Open a year-round red snapper season.
- Conduct a southern flounder stock assessment.
- Submit annual progress reports to the General Assembly.
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Heavy restrictions were put on it years ago by the Division of Marine Fisheries. In our previous coverage, officials told News 3 that the reduction in catch was to rebuild the population.
“In order to rebuild the stock to a sustainable population, we had to take a 72% reduction in catch. We are one of the major players, [we] are really the biggest player for the southern flounder fishery on the coast," said Anne Markwith, a species lead for Southern Flounder with the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality. She spoke to News 3 at the Marine Fisheries Commission meeting in the Outer Banks in March.
During this same meeting, a future for expanding access for recreational and commercial fishers was discussed. Officials said they would review steps forward once the stock bounces back.
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“The way that access is going to increase for everybody is through a recovered stock, and management is intended to grow that stock and recover that stock. Once that happens, then we can look at expanding the opportunities for recreational and commercial fishers," NCDEQ Fisheries Management Plan Coordinator Daniel Zapf told News 3 in March.
Fishermen understood the mission to rebuild the stock, but feel after years of restrictions, something needed to change.
"North Carolina has really strict laws on how to deal with overfishing, the other states don't. We took a 72% reduction in hopes of achieving what's required here. The other states did far less. We currently aren't achieving a 52% reduction across all the states, but North Carolina in 2022 achieved a 69.4% reduction. So we're taking massive reductions than the other states." said Glenn Skinner, the executive director of the North Carolina Fisheries Association.
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For elected officials in Raleigh and in the Outer Banks pushing the bill, they hope it’s able to be passed this session.
“It's a shame that it has to go to the legislation and the marine fisheries is not just doing what they should be doing, what they were tasked to do," said Mary Ellon Ballance, a commissioner in Dare County.
"All I can say is we hope it gets passed. We're not certain what's going to happen with it, I would encourage anybody who's concerned about it to reach out to their representative in the North Carolina Senate and just encourage them to get on the ball," Skinner said.
We reached out to the Division of Marine Fisheries through email and phone on Tuesday, but did not hear back.
