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Summer Flounder Index of Abundance

Summer flounder
Adult Summer Flounder Summer Flounder are important to both commercial and recreational fisheries. Management agencies closely monitor their status, and the VIMS Juvenile Finfish Trawl Survey data is recognized by the Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council as one of the key predictors of Summer Flounder recruitment.
Summer flounder
Juvenile Summer Flounder Summer Flounder spawn from September through January on the continental shelf. Larvae enter Chesapeake Bay from October through May. This individual was caught in February and is about 25 millimeters (1 inch) in length.

Summer Flounder young-of-year index of abundance figure. The graph shows Summer Flounder young-of-year annual indices of abundance from lower river and lower bay sampling stations from 1988 to 2023.

About the data

This species first recruits to the gear in March. Sampling stations in the lower rivers and lower bay are used to calculate the index of abundance.

The young-of-year cutoff values are as follows (index months are listed in bold):
  • March: 0-60 mm.
  • April: 0-100 mm.
  • May: 0-140 mm.
  • June: 0-170 mm.
  • July: 0-200 mm.
  • August: 0-225 mm.
  • September: 0-250 mm.
  • October: 0-275 mm.
  • November: 0-290 mm.
  • December: 0-290 mm.
  • January: 0-290 mm.
  • February: 0-290 mm.

Data collected after the transition to a new vessel and net in June 2015 have been adjusted by a species-specific calibration factor.

Summer Flounder Excel file (Microsoft Excel download)

For more information on how this species is managed, please visit the ASMFC website.