South Carolina’s cobia numbers have been on a roller-coaster over the past 10 years after a relatively stable recreational harvest through the 1980s and 1990s.
In the early 2000s, anglers caught considerably more fish, but catches dropped off after 2007, returning to the levels of the 1980-2000 time frame.
Cobia are regulated by NOAA Fisheries, which looks at total catches throughout the country when deciding on management strategies. In 2015, NOAA placed a catch limit on cobia of 630,000 pounds in waters from Georgia through New York.
Last year, the limit was exceeded by about 150 percent. Because of this, NOAA Fisheries announced it would close the cobia season to recreational harvest on June 20 between the Georgia-Florida border and New York.
Currently, South Carolina anglers are allowed to keep two cobia per day, with a 33-inch, fork length minimum size. North Carolina reduced its bag limit to one fish per day in anticipation of more strict guidelines from NOAA Fisheries, and South Carolina has discussed closing the cobia harvest for the month of May for waters south of Edisto, but the June 20 season end has already been set.
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