North Carolina transfers 6,580 pounds of summer flounder quota to Massachusetts

North Carolina is sending a small slice of its 2026 commercial summer flounder quota north. NOAA Fisheries published a temporary rule in the Federal Register on Oct. 5, 2026, transferring 6,580 pounds (2,985 kilograms) from North Carolina to Massachusetts. The adjustment is effective Oct. 2 through Dec. 31, 2026.

NMFS says the states agreed to the move, and the Greater Atlantic Regional Administrator found it meets the three tests in the summer flounder plan: it does not keep the coastwide quota from being caught, it covers an unforeseen contingency, and it fits the plan and the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The transfer repays landings made by an out-of-state permitted vessel under a safe-harbor agreement.

After the transfer, the revised 2026 commercial quotas are 2,892,991 pounds for North Carolina and 1,055,312 pounds for Massachusetts. The original 2026 state allocations were set Feb. 19, 2026. The contact on the rule is Matthew Rigdon at (978) 281-9336. This is the commercial quota move, not Virginia’s offshore summer flounder landing periods and not North Carolina’s recreational flounder window.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: Federal Register — Summer flounder fishery; quota transfer from North Carolina to Massachusetts (91 FR 63166, published Oct. 5, 2026).