The state Division of Marine Fisheries is reminding anglers that the recreational cobia season closes in state waters this Friday, Sept. 30.
Once the season closes, anglers must immediately release any cobia they catch, but for the rest of this week the regulations remain as adopted by the Marine Fisheries Commission in May:
By default, this means that Wednesday will be the last day of cobia season for those fishing on a private boat.
Cobia season in federal waters has been closed since June 20 because recreational fishermen exceeded the annual catch limit in 2015. Under the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s accountability measures, when the annual catch limit is exceeded in one year, the length of the following year’s season must be reduced to ensure that the recreational harvest does not exceed that year’s annual catch limit.
The federal government encouraged states to remain consistent with these measures and close state waters for recreational cobia season on June 20, as well. The North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission sought to avoid shutting the fishery down in the summer and, instead, adopted a Sept. 30 closure and stricter regulations.
Recreational cobia season will reopen in state and federal waters on Jan. 1, 2017.
For more information, contact Michelle Duval with the Division of Marine Fisheries at 252-808-8011 or at Michelle.Duval@ncdenr.gov, or see Proclamation FF-28-2016 at http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mf/proclamations.
