‘A very egregious violation’: Flounder incident in North Myrtle Beach worries officials
A week ago, with the flounder fishery still closed to harvest in North Carolina, First Sergeant Kevin Pardue of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement perked up when he heard of flounder being sold in North Carolina.
South of the state line, flounder can be harvested in South Carolina, albeit with new, stricter limits put into effect in July, and Pardue was suspicious the flounder being sold were coming from Palmetto State waters.
“We don’t work a traditional schedule, and you know when flounder gigging is going on,” said Pardue, Supervisor of S.C. DNR Law Enforcement in Horry County. “You know when the tides are and that’s what you schedule your day around. We had some tips about some things going on, it was more there are some people in North Carolina selling fish. Obviously, North Carolina is closed (to flounder harvest) so we need to be looking closely at our fishery (in South Carolina).”
Last Saturday, S.C. DNR Conservation Officer Correy Hemingway went out on an overnight patrol in Cherry Grove Inlet when, at around 2 a.m., he encountered a vessel set up for flounder gigging.
The vessel was from Tabor City, N.C. and had one person on board. Hemingway was initially told no fish were in the boat, but after investigating the vessel, he found 25 flounder.
South Carolina’s new limits are five flounder per person per day with a minimum size limit of 16 inches. The suspect had 20 fish over the daily limit and 17 of the flounder were under the 16-inch minimum size limit, with some fish measuring from 10 to 13 inches.
Cases were made against the suspect for 20 fish over the daily limit of flounder and 17 undersized flounder.
“What we caught was a very egregious violation,” said Pardue. “Usually when we find a gigging violation, it is usually a short fish and they didn’t throw it back. It’s usually nothing like this.
“People need to understand each fish is a separate violation. Every flounder over the limit can carry up to a fine of $1,090 and every one undersized can carry the same. In saltwater, each fish is a separate violation. The minimum fine is $160.”
Cases such as this, with such blatant disregard for fisheries laws, have Pardue concerned about the future of the species.
“If we don’t use common sense, (flounder) won’t be there for your kids and your grandkids,” said Pardue. “He’s taking from a public trust. That hurts everybody when somebody does something like that. We want this fishery to be here for our family, for our future.”
The flounder fishery is closed for the majority of 2021 in North Carolina waters, except for two weeks from Sept. 1 through Sept. 14 when the recreational flounder season is open. North Carolina also has a state-wide commercial flounder harvest, with the Southern Area (waters from Core Sound to the South Carolina state line) open from Oct. 1 through Oct. 21.