August 24, 2026 — The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) is launching a new campaign to promote locally harvested flounder.
The “Flat is Back” campaign is a DMF collaboration with the Massachusetts Flounder Chef Council that features 10 chefs across the state cooking dishes made with locally harvested flounder until 30 September.
August 24, 2026 — As a family of lifelong commercial fishers, we’ve always done our best to take care of the ocean off Virginia’s coast. But right now, an out-of-state company wants to dig out the foundation of our fishing grounds.
The federal government is considering a recent proposal by a Florida-based mining company to dredge Virginia’s seabed. If granted, our entire Eastern shore – 2,500 square miles – could be opened up to mining that would tear up the ocean bottom and crush the marine life that depends on it.
The two of us have saltwater running through our veins.
As for me – Jim – I fell in the water when I was two and have been driving a skiff since I was eight. My great uncle was a crabber, and my great aunt was picking crabs. I always knew I wanted to be a commercial fisherman here – just fell in love with fishing.
And as for me – Katie – my neighbor in Freeport, Long Island, threw me in the water and told me to swim when I was three. At about nine, I’d take the neighbors’ dog out on a paddle boat at six am to grab mussels off the pylons and stay out until dark. Neighbors would tell my parents they’d seen me.
Today, we are Virginia’s largest harvesters of black sea bass and flounder, fishing over 100 trips per season. Jim, the tech whiz with a chemistry degree, recently designed and built our own boat and fishes all day with our 24-year-old son, Matt. Katie takes care of lobsters in the tank and delivers our product every Saturday to people’s houses. Around Chincoteague, some people know us better as “Jimmy Neutron” and “The Lobsta Lady.”
August 19, 2026 — A“third eye” camera for groundfishermen and autonomous robots for lobstermen. That’s, in part, what a group of New England commercial fishing advocates, oceanographic researchers and tech companies hope to build with a $15 million federal grant.
The goal of the U.S. National Science Foundation funding, awarded in late July, is to help commercial fishermen catch better, healthier fish and bolster the region’s seafood industry from harvest to processing.
Researchers will use some of the money to further develop a camera system that allows captains and crews to see what’s swimming into their nets, before it is hauled onto the deck. The innovation could mean the difference between a net full of bycatch — fish that crews don’t want, because they’re heavily regulated, or can’t keep — and a harvest that makes money.
Other parts of the federal grant will be spent to develop autonomous robots to detect environmental conditions underwater that could lead to bringing up traps filled with dead lobsters.
The awardees also plan to use the money to figure out how to strengthen the processing side of the seafood industry, said Jake Kritzer, executive director for the Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal Ocean Observing Systems — the organization leading the group awarded the grant — in an interview with The Light.
August 19, 2026 — The following was released by Mass.gov
The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) today announced the launch of the Massachusetts Flounder Chef Council, a statewide campaign celebrating locally harvested flounders. Ten participating chefs will feature the versatile New England fish on restaurant menus across the state. The council brings together ten leading Massachusetts chefs, each of whom will feature a signature dish showcasing Massachusetts flounder. The dishes will be served at participating restaurant locations across Massachusetts through September 30.
“Massachusetts fishermen harvest world-class seafood from some of the most nutrient-rich fishing grounds in the world,” said DMF Director Dan McKiernan. “The Flounder Chef Council connects that fishing heritage with today’s diners while demonstrating how choosing local flounder supports fishing families, working waterfronts and coastal communities throughout the Commonwealth.”
Massachusetts flounder is wild-caught by local fishermen in the cool waters off the New England coast. With its mild, slightly sweet flavor and delicate white flesh, flounder is quick to cook and remarkably versatile. Flounder is low in saturated fat and packs a protein punch providing essential vitamins and minerals and over 20 grams of protein for 100 calories per serving.
Although local flounder is available year-round, Massachusetts fishermen caught only a portion of the amount allowed in 2025. Unpredictable prices, competition from imported seafood and limited consumer demand can make it difficult to sell more of the available catch.Through the Flat Is Back campaign, DMF and the participating chefs hope to introduce more restaurant diners and home cooks to this versatile New England fish while creating greater demand for the local catch.
“Massachusetts flounder is a beautiful fish to cook with – it’s fresh, delicate and incredibly versatile,” said Jeremy Sewall, Chef & Owner of Row 34 and Massachusetts Flounder Chef Council member. “By putting it on our menus, we can create something memorable for diners while supporting the local fishermen and coastal communities that make Massachusetts seafood so special.”
July 17, 2026 — The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries has announced opening dates for the 2026 commercial flounder season in internal coastal and joint fishing waters.
Opening dates for pound net management areas are as follows:
Tuesday, Sept. 15 in waters north of Pamlico Sound. Wednesday, Sept. 30 in Pamlico Sound and its tributaries. Wednesday, Sept. 30 in waters from Core Sound to the South Carolina line. Trip limits will not apply to pound net management areas. The opening date for commercial fishers who use mobile gears, which are all gears other than pound nets, is Wednesday, Sept. 30.
June 23, 2026 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:
NOAA Fisheries recently implemented changes to the summer flounder commercial minimum mesh size exemption for vessels fishing with flynet otter trawls, as recommended by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
BACKGROUND
Federal regulations for the summer flounder trawl fishery require a minimum mesh size of 5.5-inch diamond mesh or 6.0-inch square mesh to retain more than 100 pounds of summer flounder in the summer (May through October) or 200 pounds in winter (November through April). The regulations include an exemption to these requirements for vessels fishing with flynet otter trawls. Flynets are not designed to catch flatfish and generally catch small amounts of summer flounder. The flynet exemption allows vessels targeting other species to legally retain incidental catch of summer flounder in excess of the 100 and 200 pound seasonal possession limits, provided the vessel also holds a summer flounder moratorium permit. Vessels fishing under the exemption must continue to comply with applicable federal regulations as well as the regulations of the state in which they are permitted, including seasons and possession limits.
WHAT IS CHANGING?
1. Updated Definition of “Flynet”
The regulatory definition of a flynet has been revised to reflect modern net configurations used throughout the region. To qualify as a flynet, an otter trawl must have the following configuration:
Important: To utilize the flynet exemption, vessels must have no other nets or netting with mesh smaller than 5.5 inches (14.0 cm) on board.
2. New Flynet Gear Code for VTR Reporting
A new gear code has been implemented to improve monitoring of trips taken under the flynet exemption. When submitting Vessel Trip Reports (VTRs), flynet operators must now select the appropriate gear code:
Reporting Platform Gear Code to Select
GARFO Fish Online eVTR FLY – OTTER TRAWL, BOTTOM, FLYNET
ACCSP eTrips FLY NET
Accurate gear code reporting will support better monitoring of the flynet exemption and inform future management decisions.
The Final Rule implementing these changes also made modifications to the Summer Flounder Small Mesh Exemption Program (SMEP), a seasonal exemption applying to authorized vessels from November 1 through April 30 each year. For more information, visit https://www.mafmc.org/actions/summer-flounder-commercial-mesh-exemptions.
September 5, 2025 — The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries has removed the pound net trip limits established previously for this year’s commercial fishing season in estuarine waters.
The division announced the commercial fishing season Aug. 26, and explained at the time that “all pound net management areas will open for the harvest of flounder with initial trip limits.”
The limits were 500 pounds for the northern area, which is north of the Pamlico Sound, 1,000 pounds for the central area that includes the Pamlico Sound and its tributaries, and 500 pounds for the southern management area that is from Core Sound to the South Carolina line.
Officials revised the pound net limits and sent out the updated information Friday, explaining that “all pound net management areas will open for the harvest of flounder without initial trip limits.
” Opening dates for the three areas did not change. The northern area is to open Monday, Sept. 15, and the central and southern management areas are to open Oct. 1.
May 1, 2025 — The fishing season for cod, haddock and flounder started on time Thursday after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued emergency regulations this week.
The move came after weeks of delay because of the Trump administration’s cuts to NOAA staff, and controversy over proposed changes to how the agency measures cod populations.
For now, catch limits for these bottom-dwelling fish will remain lower than last season. NOAA said it will delay any decision about the suggested updates to cod fishing regulations until next year.
June 21, 2024 — A flounder looks like a hallucination of a fish. Its body is flat as a pancake, its head permanently tilted to one side, and instead of having one eye on each side of its head, both eyes are crowded on one side.
This anatomy, as weird as it may be, is one of evolution’s remarkable success stories. Flounder, like more than 800 other species of flatfish, lie flat on the sea floor, their two eyes gazing up at the water overhead. When a smaller fish swims by, a flatfish shoots up and strikes. One species, the Pacific halibut, can grow to the size of a barn door.
The bizarre bodies of flatfish have long puzzled biologists. In fact, Charles Darwin’s critics used it as evidence against his theory of evolution.
In “The Origin of Species,” Darwin argued that natural selection favors tiny variations. Each little increment benefited an organism. Over countless generations, he said, those increments gradually added up to large-scale transformations.
June 22, 2022 — Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, both R-Alaska, have announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s approval of up to $52 million in Pacific and Alaskan groundfish purchases.
The USDA will buy cod, haddock, pollock, and flounder to supplement the federal government’s food-assistance programs as part of its Section 32 program.
Section 32 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act authorizes a percentage of customs receipts to be transferred to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to support the prices of surplus domestic commodities and to distribute those commodities through various USDA programs designed to feed hungry Americans.