Northeast - Flounder stocks are nothing like they used to be

With flounder stocks pathetically low and the failure of regulators to put a moratorium on catching what has now become mostly a commercial fish, the recreational angler is lucky to scratch out his or her daily two-fish limit of keepers, 12 inches or better, during a two-month season in April and May. We can argue forever about the cause of the demise (e.g., overfishing, at first by recreational anglers, then by commercials who switched from decreasing yellowtails to “blackbacks,” increased water temperatures, habitat disturbance like scraping clam beds, or increased predation on juveniles by stripers (or seals!), but the fact remains: Finding flounders these days is harder than catching stripers.

The idea of gearing up a small boat — with chum pots, anchors, a couple of outfits per person, cutting boards, and net, then going somewhere to buy worms, mussels, and or clams — just to catch TWO flounder per person sounds like sheer lunacy. But is it any crazier to haul those outfits and ancillary gear aboard a party boat and lay out more than $50 for those same TWO flounder? And we haven’t even added the cost of travel at 50 cents per mile! Would you do the same for TWO scup?

http://suffolktimes.timesreview.com/2012/04/31185/north-fork-outdoors-flounder-stocks-are-nothing-like-they-used-to-be/

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I know where to catch them around kittery but rarely target them. I dont want to catch them when i know they are super low in numbers. All the old timers tell me about back in the day when they would catch buckets full of them. It sucks because they are so tasty.

Sorry to hear about the Flounder fishery down your way;
In Boston Harbor we have rebounded very well, on a normal day you can limit out in 1-2 hours on the right boat. 1-2Lb average with many 3-4Lbs and some world class 5-6Lbs possible. Come up North and fish with one of the local boats for a great day on the water
JW
www.northeastsportfishing.com
617-413-3473

My buddy works on a dragger. I want to choke him when he tells me the amount of fluke they pull in the nets. And he has shown me pics of huge ones.
I understand people have to make a living, but it still sucks for us.

I grew up fishing for flounder in the NYC area - the Sound and the South Shore of LI. We are moving from the Midwest to Connecticut and I came across the flounder limits in NY and Conn. and I was amazed. In the 1960's and 1970's flounder were plentiful and I see that the stocks are way down. What I find upsetting is not that I will miss them on the dinner table, but that the fishery is in such bad shape. I haven't followed the fisheries in the NE for a number of years because I have been fishing in the Gulf of late, but this raises my level of concern about the health of other fish populations.

Pete

I know where to catch them around kittery but rarely target them. I dont want to catch them when i know they are super low in numbers. All the old timers tell me about back in the day when they would catch buckets full of them. It sucks because they are so tasty.

I have heard their are some in that area but down my way by the Saco they are rare , they get into lobster traps on occasion . We can thank the shrimpers that dragged with small mesh nets and no escape hatch like they now have but the damage has been done .:(

.;?

The article is about WINTER FLOUNDER - the ones that look the other way:grin:


MUCH smaller - different fish, different limits.
In some areas when they say "FLOUNDER" - this is the fish they are speaking about.



The other one is the SUMMER FLOUNDER - or FLUKE.

Much larger and stocks are fine.

Its true in the 80s the flounder fishing was awesome. Even in the early to mid 90s it was pretty good. If managed right they will rebound. Look at striped bass in the sound? In the 80s the fishery was completely closed here! Now its booming.

I want to say it was 1993 when the fed's imposed the first restrictions on cod. The very next year there wasn't a flounder to be had. The rock cod we used to catch inshore also dissapeard along with the skate.

Sorry to hear about the Flounder fishery down your way;
In Boston Harbor we have rebounded very well, on a normal day you can limit out in 1-2 hours on the right boat. 1-2Lb average with many 3-4Lbs and some world class 5-6Lbs possible. Come up North and fish with one of the local boats for a great day on the water
JW
www.northeastsportfishing.com
617-413-3473
Good to hear!!!!

When I was a kid we used to go up to Quincy once a year, right around this time in April, and always had a blast.
Then sometime in the late 1980's or 90's, I remember hearing how it wasn't very good there anymore. Glad to hear it is rebounding.