Cobia (Rachycentron canadum)

• Cobia population levels have not been estimated in recent years.
• Management measures for cobia include gear restrictions, a minimum size limit, and a daily possession limit.
• Cobia is a good lowfat source of protein. It is high in riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, magnesium, and potassium. For more on nutrition, see Nutrition Facts. (USDA)
• Cobia is a highly valued seafood species. While they are not caught commercially in large quantities, researchers have raised cobia in captivity and are working to make commercial aquaculture of the species environmentally and economically sustainable.

Sustainability Status

Biomass: Cobia biomass is 33% above the biomass level needed to support maximum sustainable yield (B_MSY).
Overfishing: No
Overfished: No
Fishing and habitat: Cobia are incidentally caught in fisheries for other pelagic species. These fisheries typically fish in surface waters and have minimal, if any, impact on habitat.
Bycatch: Cobia are not directly targeted by commercial fishermen and are caught as bycatch themselves in fisheries for other pelagic species and in shrimp trawls.
Aquaculture: Research efforts are ongoing to enhance commercial aquaculture of cobia and to demonstrate its technical and economic feasibility.

Science and Management

Cobia is managed as part of the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Councils' Fishery Management Plan for Coastal Migratory Pelagic Resources of the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic. Management measures include permitting requirements, gear restrictions, and a minimum size limit of 33 inches fork length. Drift gillnets are prohibited, and fish must be landed with their heads and fins intact. There is also a daily possession limit of 2 cobia per person. (In Florida, state regulations only allow 1 per person per day or 6 per vessel per day, whichever is less, for the recreational fishery.)

Life History and Habitat

Life history, including information on the habitat, growth, feeding, and reproduction of a species, is important because it affects how a fishery is managed.

• Geographic range: Cobia is found worldwide in tropical, subtropical, and temperate waters, except the Eastern Pacific. In the United States, they are found in the Atlantic Ocean from Massachusetts to the Florida Keys and in the Gulf of Mexico.
• Habitat: Cobia are a pelagic fish, living in the open ocean in tropical, subtropical, and temperate waters. They prefer to live near objects such as piers, buoys, boats, and platforms.
• Life span: Up to 12 years.
• Food: Cobia eat some fishes, although the bulk of their diet is crustaceans and other invertebrates.
• Growth rate: Rapid for the first two years then slows gradually.
• Maximum size: 6 feet and 100 pounds.
• Reaches reproductive maturity: Cobia mature early. Females mature at 36 inches long and 3 years of age; males reach sexual maturity at 24 inches long and 2 years of age.
• Reproduction: Cobia are batch spawners, meaning they spawn more than once during a spawning season. Females have from 377,000 to 1,980,500 eggs.
• Spawning season: From late June to mid-August along the southeastern United States and from late summer to early fall in the Gulf of Mexico.
• Spawning grounds: Coastal bays and estuaries.
• Migrations: Cobia migrate seasonally in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. In the spring in the Atlantic, cobia migrate north from wintering grounds in the Florida Keys to coastal Virginia and the Carolinas. In the Gulf of Mexico, cobia annually migrate north in early spring to spawning grounds in the northern Gulf of Mexico, returning to the Florida Keys by winter.
• Predators: Potential predators of young cobia include larger pelagic fishes.
• Commercial or recreational interest: Primarily of recreational interest but often retained as bycatch in commercial operations
• Distinguishing characteristics: Cobia look like sharks or remoras (shark suckers). Cobia are dark brown with a single dorsal fin Young cobia are colored conspicuously with alternating black and white horizontal stripes with splotches of bronze, orange, and green.

Role in the Ecosystem

Additional Information

Market name: Cobia
Vernacular names: Crabeater, Sergeantfish, Ling, Cabio, Cubby Yew, Lemonfish

Biomass

Biomass refers to the amount of cobia in the ocean. Scientists cannot collect and weigh every single fish to determine biomass, so they use models to estimate it instead. These biomass estimates can help determine if a stock is being fished too heavily or if it may be able to tolerate more fishing pressure. Managers can then make appropriate changes in the regulations of the fishery.

Assessment results for cobia are fairly uncertain so the population status is virtually unknown. Scientists and managers do know that the cobia population in the Gulf of Mexico has increased since the 1980s, as spawning biomass estimates nearly doubled from the early 1980s to 2000.

Note: Only Gulf of Mexico biomass estimates are shown in the graph.

Landings

Landings refer to the amount of catch that is brought to land. In the Gulf of Mexico, recreational landings account for 90% of all landings. Since 1980, recreational landings have remained fairly stable at around 400 to 600 metric tons with a slight peak of 1,014 metric tons in 1997. Commercial landings have steadily increased from 45 metric tons in 1980 to a peak of 120 metric tons in 1994, followed by a decline to 62 metric tons in 2000. Landings in the Atlantic have ranged from 351 to 627 tons since 1987.

Biomass and Landings

Are landings and biomass related? Landings are dependent on biomass, management measures in the fishery, and fishing effort.

Note: Only Gulf of Mexico biomass and landings are shown in the graph. Landings include both commercial and recreational.

Data sources:
Biomass from Assessment of cobia, Rachycentron canadum, in the waters of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico

Landings from NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service Annual Commercial Landings Statistics using "COBIA" as Species and "Atlantic" and "Gulf" as State; Assessment of cobia, Rachycentron canadum, in the waters of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico

Important Dates

1983 – Coastal Migratory Pelagics Fishery Management Plan is implemented
1985 – A 33 inch minimum size is implemented for cobia (Amendment 1 to the FMP)
1990 – A two fish per person bag limit is implemented for cobia (Amendment 5 to the FMP)
1998 – Amendment 8 expands the management area through the Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council's area of jurisdiction (up to New York)

Notes and Links

General Information:
Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Migratory Pelagic Fisheries

South Atlantic Fishery Management Council Fish ID and Regulations for Cobia

Fishery Management:
Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Coastal Migratory Pelagics

Amendments to the FMP for Coastal Migratory Pelagics

History of the FMP for Coastal Migratory Pelagics in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico

Stock Assessments:
Assessment of cobia, Rachycentron canadum, in the waters of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico