The annual closed season for the recreational and commercial harvest of Southern Flounder, from October 15 through November 30 of each year, is approaching. This statewide closure for Southern Flounder is for all sectors and all 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. Southern Flounder stock is presently considered to be overfished. Therefore, exemptions that previously existed for Southern Flounder caught as bycatch on a shrimping trip are still no longer applicable.
This closed season is necessary to attempt to recover the stock of Southern Flounder, which is overfished based on results from the 2020 Southern Flounder stock assessment. The annual closed season in the fall allows mature female flounder to escape inshore waters and move offshore to spawn. This closed season is projected to create a 50% reduction in mature female Southern Flounder harvest. The closed season is an attempt to help the stock recover to a healthy biomass target by 2028.