Sweeping changes to flounder fishing regulations approved by S.C. state legislature
Changes to fishing limits on South Carolina’s flounder population have been approved by the state legislature and only need the signature of Gov. Henry McMaster to become law.
The South Carolina General Assembly has approved a bill that would create sweeping changes to current flounder regulations in the Palmetto State, including lower daily bag limits, lower daily boat limits and an increase in the minimum size limit. In addition, the bill would require an increase in saltwater fishing license fees to help fund the establishment of a flounder stocking program in the state.
The bill was almost unanimously approved by a 42-0 vote in the Senate and 111-1 in the House on Tuesday. The bill was ratified Wednesday and, with McMaster’s signature of approval, would go into effect on July 1.
“The process has provided a bill that represents a conservation win that technically ends overfishing of southern flounder via reasonably adjusted size and creel limits, (and) creates and funds a new program to aid and bolster a declining wild stock,” said Scott Whitaker, Executive Director of Coastal Conservation Association South Carolina.
The changes in regulations in the bill include:
*A 50 percent reduction in the daily bag limits to 5 flounder per person per day and 10 per boat per day. South Carolina’s current limits are 10 per person and 20 per boat per day.
*An increase of one inch in the minimum size limit to 16 inches. The current minimum size limit is 15 inches.
The bill includes an across-the-board increase in saltwater fishing license fees, with the additional funds earmarked to fund a flounder stocking program that S.C. DNR would be required to establish.
For South Carolina residents, an annual resident saltwater fishing license would increase from $10 to $15 and a three-year resident saltwater fishing license would increase from $30 to $45.
The new saltwater fishing license options for non-residents would be a one-day temporary license for $10, a seven-day temporary license for $35 and an annual license for $75.
The bill also includes increases in the cost of charter boat saltwater fishing licenses.
The bill states that a minimum of five dollars from the sale of each recreational saltwater fishing license must be used for the development and implementation of a flounder stocking program.
The flounder stocking program would be based out of the Waddell Mariculture Center in Beaufort County.
Whitaker is pleased with the changes the bill would make to hopefully boost the stocks of one of South Carolina’s most important saltwater fish species.
“(The bill) delivers a resounding new license fee structure to allow the Marine Division to address the ever-increasing tasks being asked of it by the angling community, fisheries managers, elected officials, and quite frankly the general public that is flooding to our prized South Carolina coast,” said Whitaker. “It is not often, in fact it is very rare if you review it, that such a piece of legislation accomplishes so much.”
The bill would require the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources to furnish a written report to the General Assembly on South Carolina’s stock of flounder by December 31, 2023, and must provide future projections of the status of the species in the report.