Wild adult winter flounder enter estuaries (where rivers meet the sea) in winter or early spring to spawn. The timing sets them apart from other local groundfish, but is consistent with their preference for cold water environments at all life stages. The location insures that their offspring will be in a nutrient-rich environment during early development.

Extensive habitat studies have shown that cultured flounder do better when they are released in estuarine settings with a soft-sediment bottom, where their preferred foods, such as polychaetes and amphipods, are abundant. Our analysis of potential release sites along New Hampshire’s coast confirms this. Most of the fish now released as part of this program were set free in or near the Hampton Estuary.

We tend to release the fish in summer and early fall, when their size is similar to that of the wild juvenile population and large enough to evade predators.