Cobia

U.S. wild-caught cobia is a smart seafood choice because it is sustainably managed and responsibly harvested under U.S. regulations.

• Cobia are dark brown with a single dorsal fin.
• Young cobia have distinct coloring, with alternating black and white horizontal stripes and splotches of bronze, orange, and green.
• Cobia are often mistaken for sharks or remoras. In fact, their closest living relative is the remora (shark sucker).

• Cobia are the only member of the family Rachycentridae in North America.
• They grow up to 6 feet and 100 pounds and live up to 12 years.
• They are able to reproduce when they are young—females mature at age 3 and males mature at age 2.
• Cobia spawn in coastal bays and estuaries several times throughout their spawning season, which lasts from late June to mid-August in the Southeast and from late summer to early fall in the Gulf of Mexico. Females release between 375,000 and 2 million eggs each time they spawn.
• They are strong, aggressive predators, mainly feeding on crustaceans but also fish and squid. Larger pelagic fish prey on young cobia.

• In U.S. waters, cobia are most abundant from Virginia south through the Gulf of Mexico.
• Cobia migrate seasonally in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.
• Along the Atlantic coast, they move south and offshore toward warmer waters during the late fall and winter.
• Cobia found in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico during the summer move to south Florida waters in the winter, possibly spending the winter near the Florida Keys.

• NOAA Fisheries and the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council manage cobia in the Gulf of Mexico and on the east coast of Florida.
• The Atlantic migratory group cobia (from Georgia through New York) are managed by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
• Managed under the Fishery Management Plan for Coastal Migratory Pelagics in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico:
  • Fishermen do not need a federal permit to harvest cobia.
  • Gear restrictions:
    • Drift gillnets are prohibited.
    • Authorized gear includes automatic reel, bandit gear, handline, rod-and-reel, and pelagic longline.
  • Cobia must be a minimum size to be harvested, and must be landed with their heads and fins intact. Current minimum size limit is 33 inches fork length.  Amendment 7 will be increasing the minimum size limit to 36 inches fork length.
  • Commercial and recreational fishermen have size limits, trip limits, and per person per day or per vessel per day bag limits.
  • Annual catch limits based on best available science.

• Commercial fishery:

  • In 2019, commercial landings of cobia totaled 137,000 pounds and were valued at $489,000, according to the NOAA Fisheries commercial fishing landings database.

  • Commercial fishermen do not directly target cobia and usually catch it while trawling for shrimp or fishing for other species such as mackerel.
• Recreational fishery:
  • Recreational fishermen like cobia because it is a large, powerful fish that puts up a good fight and provides a tasty meal.
  • In 2019, recreational anglers landed more than 3.7 million pounds of cobia, according to the NOAA Fisheries recreational fishing landings database.