Where Do Flounders Live?

Those that have been fishing in the ocean have probably at one time or another caught a flatfish. The obvious difference between the flatfish and a normal fish, such as perch or salmon, is that the flatfish's body is a flat oval shape with both eyes on one side of the body. The flatfish is a family of species that all are similar in body shape and orientation. The flounder is one of these fish. While the flounder is on the small size, its cousin the halibut is also a flatfish of the same family.

Flounder is mainly found in the northern and southern waters of most oceans. The European Flounder can be found in most European waters, from the shallow waters of the North Sea to the warmer waters of the Mediterranean Sea. The Olive Flounder is mostly found in the seas to the north of Japan. Summer and Winter Flounder are found along the shores of both the U.S. eastern and western coast. They are not limited to the Northern Hemisphere though, as there are a number of species in the Southern Hemisphere as well. Australia and New Zealand both have significant fishing grounds for flounder.

The Winter Flounder come into the shoals and shallow waters of estuaries during the winter months when they are spawning. They return to the deeper waters of offshore during summer months. The breeding habits of all the sub species are not well understood or investigated beyond this general knowledge. 

While the flounder tend to populate shallower waters along the coasts of landmasses, they have been found in some of the deepest waters that man has explored. Explorers from the U.S. Navy were exploring the deepest known part of the Earth’s crust, the Mariana Trench, when they observed flounder at a depth of about 35,800 ft.

The flounder hunt for prey by hiding in the mudflats and bottom rocks and sand until their prey swim by. As a result, the fish are particularly found near pilings, docks and bridges. Any structures on or in the water and near areas of muddy bottoms or sandy beaches would be attractive to the flounder.

What Is the Flounder?

A number of fish species exist that are so similar to the flounder that they are confused with it. For example, the sole, fluke and a variety of flounders all are hard to tell apart from each other.

The flounder is a broad category of the bottom dwelling flatfish. There are many sub species of flounders, including yellowtail, summer flounder (fluke), winter flounder, southern flounder, European flounder and olive flounder. They are all very different from each other and yet, they are all very much the same in many ways.

Fishing for Flounder

There are various techniques used when fishing for flounder. By asking where do flounders live, and often finding that they live along the bottom of the water, the techniques have included net dragging and digging for them in the shallow mud flats and coastal waters. The flounder that are found in these areas are on the small side, but fishing with a pole or a deep-sea drag net can produce specimens of larger sizes.

Since flounder and its related fish are a food source for much of the world, it is up to us to make sure that activities by the commercial fishing community don’t endanger their ability to repopulate and sustain a plentiful population that can continue to be harvested.

A similar situation is also occurring in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. Salmon harvesting by commercial fishermen are exceeding the levels that maintain the ecosystem. By reducing the salmon population in those waters, they are depriving Orca pods of their primary food source. Recreational anglers also suffer when the salmon runs dwindle to only a small number of fish.

The waters that support the flounder population are being overfished, instead of being managed to ensure a future ability to harvest. Some of the lands and waters that they inhabit are also being destroyed due to industrial pollution, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico off the shores of Texas. These activities together put the flounder in danger.