Maryland’s Summer Flounder season is underway, and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is urging anglers to get involved with the State’s summer flounder survey.
“The anglers who volunteer their catch data as part of this survey play an important role in summer flounder management in Maryland, as well as along the Atlantic Coast,” said Fisheries Director Tom O’Connell. “As we prepare to begin another exciting summer flounder season, it is important that anglers continue to provide us all of the same valuable data they have in the past which helps guide future decisions to ensure a sustainable summer flounder population.”
By recording information on fishing trips that target summer flounder, anglers become active participants in summer flounder management. The survey data are later used to guide DNR’s establishment of creel, minimum size and season limits for flounder.
For 2009, anglers are encouraged to measure to the nearest quarter inch, continue to report trips where flounder are targeted but not caught, and promote the survey to fellow anglers, especially in less-fished areas. Anglers are reminded to fill out the survey in full, providing data about the date, location, and number of anglers in the party, method used and the total number of flounder kept, as well as the total number released.
The average length of flounder caught in 2008 was 13.4 inches, which has remained relatively consistent for the past seven years. In 2008, a total of 11,056 fish were reported caught on 883 trips. The majority of angler activity occurred along the Atlantic coast, with less than 6 percent taking place in the Chesapeake Bay. Approximately 10 percent of trips targeting flounder resulted in no flounder being caught.
To learn more or to participate in the survey visit:
http://www.dnr.maryland.gov/fisheries/survey/sfsurveyintro.html
Information and survey packets are also available by mail, through contacting Allison Luettel at 410-260-8343 or aluettel@dnr.state.md.us.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.