stock enhancement
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why winter flounder?

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Once thriving, New England’s winter flounder fishery has decreased by 91 percent in 17 years. These one-year-olds were raised at UNH’s Coastal Marine Lab as part of a stock enhancement research program.

why winter flounder?

Sometimes called blackback or lemon sole, winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) is a popular target for commercial and recreational fishermen from Newfoundland to Chesapeake Bay, Virginia. However, populations in the Gulf of Maine have declined by 91 percent in the past 17 years.

Read more about the state of this fishery and its current management plan (pdf) >

Fortunately, winter flounder is an excellent stock enhancement candidate for a number of reasons:

  • The biology and ecology are well known. NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service has developed an excellent overview of the natural history of winter flounder (pdf).
  • Hatchery techniques are well established, making the rearing of large numbers of fish possible.
  • The young—fish less than a year old—are estuarine and non-migratory, making it easier to identify and access optimal release sites and to recapture tagged fish for evaluation.
  • New England estuaries are well studied. Existing data sets on their abiotic and biotic characteristics can support a stock enhancement program.
  • All New England coastal states have extensive winter flounder sampling programs, which can support future enhancement initiatives.


Copyright 2007, Atlantic Marine Aquaculture Center, Durham, NH 03824
The Atlantic Marine Aquaculture Center is a partnership of the University of New Hampshire (UNH) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).