Because 2015 was such a fruitful year for North Carolina cobia fishermen, they’ll have a big payback to make in 2016.
According to NOAA Fisheries, recreational anglers in the South Atlantic Fisheries Management Area harvested more than 1.54 million pounds of cobia in 2015, exceeding the annual catch limit of 630,000 pounds. Regulations require the length of the following season to be shortened to ensure the recreational harvest doesn’t exceed the limit a second-straight year, and NOAA Fisheries has ordered the seasons closed on June 20, the target date when the catch limit will be reached.
The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission voted in late February to drop the annual creel limit from two to one fish per day for recreational and to two fish for commercial license holders.
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