Bay Managers Looking at Cobia

Chris Dollar at the Annapolis Capital Gazette, Management of cobia fishery on the East Coast addressed

In what one could say is another sign that coastal fisheries are changing, cobia shared top billing at the summer meeting of the East Coast board charged with managing 27 nearshore fish species.

Yes, cobia, that solitary predator that graces the Chesapeake Bay from late spring until early fall. Each summer, the “man in the brown suit” punishes reels and anglers, but in a good way.

Angler interest in catching one of these angry piscatorial missiles has grown mightily in recent years. And along with red drum, the Chesapeake cobia fishery has arguably replaced the once abundant striper as the most sought-after trophy fish in the bay.

To that end, staffers and technical folks at the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission wanted members to get on the same page — not just regulation-wise, but also to hopefully reduce uncertainty by using harvest estimates based on a larger sample size combining multiple states in a region, instead of the state-by-state method that had been used.

Some board members wanted to hit the pause button until a stock assessment is complete. (Let me interject that a decent argument could be made that kicking the proverbial can down the road is not just common practice at the ASMFC, it is an institutional pastime. I kid, sorta).

Others expressed concerns that not acting now might create management whiplash. In the end, commissioners elected to move forward, cobbling together a Frankenstein-esque set of measures.

Cobia are a rare, but perhaps increasing, summer migrant into middle Chesapeake Bay. In recent years, with Striped Bass fishing being severely limited, recreation fishing interest in Cobia has increased. But still, they are rare, and to catch a few Cobia requires a lot of commitment of time and boat fuel.

Right now, Cobia regulations in Maryland allow anglers to keep 1 per day over 40 inches or 2 per boat from June 15–September 15. Given the few actually being caught, I doubt the Maryland catch has much impact on the coast wide population. I've never caught one, but I was on the boat when Pete and Mike Nyalko each caught one (under the 40 inch limit). We also saw one get caught yesterday, but we were in Virginia waters. 

The Wombat has Rule Five Sunday: My Next Ex-Wife up on time and under budget at the Other McCain.