Changes in store for fishing of cobia in federal, state waters

Typically starting in early May, cobia begin showing up in waters off the Grand Strand, with anglers eager to have a memorable encounter with the large, powerful, and tasty, fish.

At the height of their northerly migration, cobia can be found loitering around area jetties, buoys and markers, artificial reefs and hard-bottom areas in all depths or trailing schools of bait along the beach.

The cobia will migrate as usual, but whether recreational fishermen will be able to harvest them, or for how long, is up in the air for the 2016 fishing season.

Possibly next week, NOAA Fisheries is expected to announce a closure for recreational catches for the Atlantic Group of cobia for 2016 in federal waters, which begin three miles offshore. The Atlantic Group includes waters from Georgia through New York.

The date of the pending closure will begin is unknown.

Cobia in the Atlantic Group are governed by a 630,000-pound annual catch limit (ACL) for recreational anglers but in 2015, 1.7 million pounds of cobia was landed in the region according to NOAA Fisheries’ Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP).

As a result of the overage of the ACL, the Atlantic Group cobia fishery will be closed.

Changes are in store for cobia limits in state waters, too, with legislation currently working its way through the S.C. Statehouse.

State waters include estuary waters and up to three miles offshore in the Atlantic Ocean.

The legislation proposes a closure of the recreational fishery in state waters in the month of May only in what would be established as the Southern Cobia Management Zone, from Edisto Beach south to the Georgia state line.

The current cobia limits are two-per person per day with a 33-inch minimum size limit (fork length). The legislation proposes limits of one per person per day with a boat limit of three for all state waters.

Cobia are commonly caught in May in estuary waters in the southern part of the state, especially around bridges in the Broad River and St. Helena Sound near Beaufort and Hilton Head Island. The fish are in spawning mode in May, however.

“(The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources) wants to start treating cobia like salmon,” said State Rep. Stephen Goldfinch of Murrells Inlet. “We shouldn’t kill those fish when they come in to spawn. Kill them any other time of the year – it’s fine with me, it’s fine with DNR – but if we’re going to grow that population of fish then we need to start to manage them properly and killing them when they come in to spawn doesn’t seem like the best method to do that.”

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) will discuss cobia management options at next week’s meeting, scheduled for Monday through Friday at Jekyll Island, Ga., at the Westin Jekyll Island.

Possible options include establishing a vessel limit, increasing the minimum size limit, changing the start of the fishing year, closure or management measures during the spawning season (May and June) and rolling seasonal closures by state and/or area.

SMZs

A SAFMC Snapper-Grouper Advisory Panel has zeroed in on a preferred alternative for a Special Management Zone (SMZ) in the vicinity of the Georgetown Hole, located about 55 miles southeast of the Winyah Bay jetties.

The Georgetown Hole is one of 11 candidate spawning sites in waters offshore from North Carolina to Key West, Fla., under consideration for a SMZ by the council.

Snapper Grouper Amendment 36 is designed to identify areas of spawning habitat for snapper grouper species, including deep-water speckled hind and warsaw grouper, that can be designated for protection to enhance spawning and increase recruitment by closing snapper-grouper fishing, or bottom fishing, in those areas.

Trolling would be unaffected as the spawning SMZs would only consider prohibiting fishing for snapper-grouper species.

The advisory panel selected a preferred alternative of 3.034 square miles in the Georgetown Hole, the smallest of the available alternatives which were as large as 15 square miles.

The council is expected to take a final vote on the SMZs at next week’s meeting in Jekyll Island, Ga. If approved, the SMZs would still have to be approved by the Secretary of Commerce before becoming law.

The amendment would also revise the boundary of the Charleston Deep Reef MPA, and address transit and anchoring provisions within any newly designated spawning SMZs.

There will be a public comment period at the meeting on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. The council is expected to vote on Amendment 36 on Thursday or Friday.

The council held two rounds of public hearings in January and August 2015 to receive public input on the amendment but written comments can still be submitted via email to mike.collins@safmc.net. Use Spawning SMZ in the subject line.

The council meeting can be viewed live via webinar. Visit safmc.net/SAFMC_03_2016CouncilMeeting to register.

This story was originally published March 4, 2016 at 7:12 PM with the headline "Changes in store for fishing of cobia in federal, state waters."