The annual closed season for the recreational and commercial harvest of Southern Flounder, from Oct. 15 through Nov. 30 of each year, is approaching. This statewide closure applies to all sectors and gear types, including any flounder caught as bycatch in any other fishery.
The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission (LWFC) was granted the authority by the Legislature to modify the shrimping bycatch exemption if the flounder stock is overfished and/or undergoing overfishing. The Southern Flounder stock is currently considered overfished. Therefore, exemptions that previously existed for Southern Flounder caught as bycatch on a shrimping trip are still no longer applicable. The annual closed season in the fall allows mature female flounder to escape inshore waters and move offshore to spawn.
