Cobia were recently added to the listing of gamefish by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, joining spot-tail bass (red drum) and speckled trout. That makes selling cobia caught in South Carolina, regardless of whether caught in state or federal waters, illegal. If you want to eat the freshest, wild, locally caught redfish, speckled trout or cobia, you or some kind and generous friend have to catch it yourself. According to the internet, the majority of cobia sold commercially is raised by aquaculturists.
According to Robert Wiggers, an SCDNR biologist, “The cobia in St. Helena (Sound) and the Broad River are genetically different than those fish caught offshore. It appears what we find in the estuaries is part of a sub-population.”
The fish in the Broad River are there to breed, while those found near various offshore wrecks apparently breed offshore in deep water.
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