November 15, 2017 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
Linthicum, MD – The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission approved the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Atlantic Migratory Group (AMG). The FMP complements many of the aspects of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s (SAFMC) cobia regulations for federal waters extending from Georgia through New York. The FMP was initiated in response to recent overages of the federal annual catch limit (ACL) for AMG Cobia. Managing the recreational ACL on a coastwide basis has resulted in federal closures and significant overages in 2015 and 2016, disrupting fishing opportunities and jeopardizing the health of the stock.
Under the Interstate FMP, the recreational fishery will be managed with a one fish bag limit and minimum size limit of 36” fork length (FL) or total length equivalent. Vessel limits will be determined once individual states set their seasonal restrictions, but may not exceed six fish per vessel. State-specific allocations of a coastwide recreational harvest limit that is equivalent to the federal AMG cobia ACL of 620,000 pounds result in the following state-specific soft targets: