Page 107 - South Mississippi Living - May, 2021

story by John N. Felsher photos by John N. Felsher and courtesy of Mississippi Department of Marine Resources
For the past few years, anglers and biologists noticed a decline in the ounder population all along the northern Gulf of Mexico coast.
“We didn’t have quite enough data to run a stock assessment, so we’re beginning to do some sampling speci cally targeting this species to gain some data,” reports Matt Hill, director of the Fin sh Bureau for the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (DMR). “Just with the numbers we were seeing from the shery, we did see a decline. Other Gulf States see a similar pattern. It’s hard to say exactly what’s driving this.”
Fortunately, Hill and other biologists feel the delicious species began an upward trend in the past year. The population uctuates, but over the long-term, it appears stable or slightly increasing.
“What’s happening could just be a natural cycle, but that’s very di cult to say,” Hill advises. “Flounder are cyclic species. In Mississippi waters, ounder populations peak about every seven to eight years. Then, they start to decline for another seven to eight years. I feel like the shery has become more stable in the
upward cycle.”
Mississippi anglers can keep 10 ounder
per day, each at least 12 inches long. Flounder grow very fast, but at di erent rates. Females grow larger and faster than males and reach legal size sooner. A female southern ounder can exceed 20 pounds. The state record weighed 10 pounds, 4.66 ounces.
Males seldom grow longer than about
12 to 13 inches. In addition, males tend to stay farther o shore around reefs
with cover and a at surface in waters about 30 to 60 feet deep. In the fall, male ounder move closer to shore as they wait for females to migrate from the estuaries to the Gulf of Mexico for spawning. That means the shing pressure disproportionately impacts females of the species far more than males.
“With our state ounder regulations, the likelihood of catching a keeper male ounder is small,” explains Jonathan Barr, a Mississippi DMR sheries scientist. “The legal limit doesn’t allow people to keep the smaller males so practically everything we see kept, both commercially and recreationally, are
is going to have some impact, but I don’t believe it’s a signi cant impact. We’ve seen this same cyclic pattern, even before we had regulations on ounder. Over time, the population has withstood the harvest.”
Twice each year, ounder migrate. As waters get chilly in the fall, ounder head o shore to spend the winter in the deep gulf waters. They return in the spring
as the waters warm again, but not all ounder leave the estuaries. Some stay in inshore waters all year long. Anglers who can intercept ounder as they make their annual movements might catch a bunch of the tasty at sh quickly.
Anglers can nd ounder in any salty
to brackish waters in Mississippi from April through late November. Flounder can also swim far upstream in freshwater rivers. Most anglers sh for them with live minnows or shrimp, but at sh might also hit jigheads tipped with soft-plastic trailers or other lures. On summer nights, many people walk o the beaches looking to “gig” ounder by spearing them.
last year or so. Talking to some of our going to be females. Any type of harvest hardcore ounder shermen, I do believe
that we are at the beginning of an
Jen Carroll.
May 2021 | 107
Flounder Status
Elizabeth Eustis.
Pete Martinez.