Anglers want summer flounder season extended into fall

Approximately 75 local anglers and others in the fishing industry attended a Coastal Fisheries Advisory Committee meeting Tuesday at the Marlin Club to discuss possible restrictions on the upcoming summer flounder season. OCEAN CITY TODAY/CHRISTINE CULLEN (Jan. 22, 2010) Local anglers acknowledge the need for regulations to protect the dwindling summer flounder population, but also want any regulations set for 2010 to include a longer season for economic reasons.

Around 75 anglers and charter boat operators expressed that sentiment and more at the Marlin Club in West Ocean City Tuesday night for a session with the Coastal Fisheries Advisory Committee on possible restrictions on the 2010 summer flounder catch.

“We know we’re going to have to take a reduction just based on the numbers through August,” said Carrie Kennedy, coastal program director for the Department of Natural Resources.

The final harvest estimates from 2009 are not yet complete, but based on the numbers gathered through the end of August a target flounder catch for 2010 is expected to be around 75,000 fish.

The good news, Kennedy said, is that the target is higher than the 61,000 fish allowed last year. The bad news is that the partial 2009 catch estimates indicated that anglers caught many more than that, thus making it likely that tougher limits will be imposed in 2010.

Projections based on the harvest estimates gathered so far call for a reduction from 14-25 percent in total catch from last year, Kennedy said. When the catch estimates from the last few weeks of the 2009 season are in, that could change, but she was doubtful that would happen.

DNR is creating a list of options for restrictions for the 2010 summer flounder season and has been traveling across Maryland gathering comment from the sportsfishing community. The proposals, which would be presented to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the agency that sets the rules, call for a uniform minimum size and catch limit for the entire state of 18.5 inches and three fish. This is a change from the 2009 regulations allowing three fish per day of 18 inches in the coastal bays and one fish per day of 16.5 inches in the Chesapeake Bay.

Among the proposals presented to the group included ones that would see the season open as early as April 1 and end as late as Oct. 13.

“I don’t think many people are fishing before April 15 out here. Our customers don’t come that early. Last year it didn’t get steady until about the 1st of May,” said Bob Gowar, captain of the Bay Bee.

Flounder fishing locally is best in the fall, most flounder fishermen agree, and that is the busiest time for local charter boats because of tourists coming just to fish, charter boat captain Victor Bunting said. He and other charter boat operators want the season extended as far as possible into October to capitalize on the increased interest and larger size of fish.

“You’ve got to consider the economic impact in Ocean City in April versus the fall. A larger population is coming to go fishing in the fall,” said Buddy Seigel.

After listening to the comments from the anglers, the committee members came up with four potential sets of regulations they want to examine further.

The first would have the flounder season start April 17 and run as long as possible with an 18.5-inch minimum size. The second would start the same date but have a larger minimum size of 19 inches, allowing the season to extend a little further. The third would have a season closing date of Oct. 16 with the opening date to be determined based on an 18.5-inch catch size. The fourth was the same as the third, only using a 19-inch size.

At this time, the recommendations are nothing more than recommendations. Based on all the input gathered across the state, DNR will come up with a list of recommendations to present to the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and ultimately to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.