Fishery raising flounder for first time on Alabama coast

GULF SHORES, Ala. - Alabama's conservation agency says it's raising flounder for the first time to supplement a decline in the natural population of the flat fish in coastal waters.

Workers with the Marine Resources Division are tending to thousands of larval flounder at a state hatchery in Gulf Shores, according to a news release from the agency. They hope to get between 1,000 and 5,000 fish from the hatchery in the first year with a goal of releasing about 60,000 fish annually in a few years.

Those fish would help add to a population of southern flounder that's been falling since 2008. Scientists aren't sure what is causing the decline.

The state decreased bag limits for the fish this year and closed the season for the whole month of November to protect the flounder that were migrating through coastal bays on their way to winter spawning grounds.

Adding to the natural population will take time. Max Westerndorf, the hatchery manager, said it takes about 60 days for a young flounder to reach a length of 1 to 1.5 inches.

"My goal for this first year is to get one up to a 2-inch fish," he said. "That will prove that we have successfully closed the cycle, and we can increase that significantly next year."

Young flounder go through a metamorphosis where they switch from swimming upright to lying flat on the bottom, and their right eye moves to the left side of the head.

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