A rare jubilee event drew large crowds to Point Clear over Father’s Day weekend, leading to bountiful catches for some and an arrest record for others.

Tickets to at least three people were issued on June 12 for possessing over-the-bag limits of flounder, or for having undersized fish. A disorderly conduct arrest was made on 66-year-old man who allegedly shouted obscenities while encountering Marine Resource Officers with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, while they were issuing the citations for the illegal fishing.

Chris Blankenship, commissioner of ADCNR, said Tuesday that folks need to get used to the rules, and that jubilees — however rare — are not fishing free-for-alls.

He said his agency is “working really hard to rebuild the flounder population” after they dipped to “critical shape” about six years ago.

“We are trying our best to get the word out for people to abide by the creel and size limits during a jubilee and that these fish aren’t dying,” Blankenship said. “It’s not a fish kill. Those (jubilees are the result) of fish moving up in shallow water and as the tide changes or as the winds move, they move back out offshore.”

He added, “They are not dying. That’s a misconception people have that they are dying anyway and we should take them.”

The incident south of Fairhope was highlighted in a cover story by The Lagniappe and included statements from one of the men arrested who claimed he was unaware the state had regulations on fish limits during a jubilee.

“It’s an interesting phenomena we have here and only one other place in the world,” said Blankenship, a Mobile resident who was director of ADCNR’s Marine Resources Division from 2011 to 2017, before he was appointed by former Gov. Robert Bentley to lead the agency in 2017.

“Most of the time (jubilees) take place for two hours, here or there, in the middle of the night,” Blankenship said. “This was an unusual event that last a couple of days during daylight hours as well and led to a lot more people maybe being involved and not the usual people who live along the Bay, but with other people coming down as well.”

A jubilee occurs when mostly bottom-dwelling creatures in Mobile Bay are forced to shoreline was water oxygen drops. They come in many forms, from events with just flounder or shrimp and crabs to more flourishing events with all the creatures lined up in the shallow water.

Jubilees often follow an afternoon rain shower and an easterly or northeasterly wind.

Jubilees are rare, and unique in the United States to Mobile Bay. In fact, research suggests they occur in only two places in the entire world — Tokyo Bay in Japan, and Mobile and Baldwin counties. They range anywhere from 500 feet in length, to 15 miles, and traditionally are found on the Eastern Shore from Daphne to south of Point Clear. Daphne’s nickname is the “Jubilee City.”

But Alabama’s restrictions on flounders apply to any kind of fishing, jubilees or otherwise. In 2019, the state placed limits on flounder catches to a size limit at 14 inches total length. A bag limit to five fish per person for recreational anglers was also established, down from a 10-fish daily limit established in 2008. Recreational and commercial flounder fishing is closed during the month of November in Alabama. That’s the month when flounder migrate to the Gulf of Mexico to spawn.

“We are starting to see that rebound,” Blankenship said about the flounder stock. “And doing good.”

There are also limits on shrimp and blue crabs. The recreational limit for catching shrimp with heads on them is one five-gallon bucket per day. The same limit is in place for blue crabs with a 5-inch minimum carapace (shell point to point).

ADCNR has emphasized the daily limits before. In an August 2023 piece by David Rainer of ADCNR, Scott Bannon — the current director of the Marine Resources Division — is quoted saying that people should pay attention to the restrictions.

“Go have fun with it and enjoy the opportunity to capture some tasty species within the limits,” Bannon said.