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FMAC endorses staff package for cobia: 43-inch minimum, two-fish vessel limit and modest season extension
Summary
FMAC members recommended the staff option that raises the minimum cobia size to 43 inches while retaining a two-fish vessel limit and extending the season five days (June 15–Sept. 20) to achieve roughly a 15.9% reduction for the Northern region under ASMFC Addendum 2.
The Fisheries Management Advisory Committee endorsed a staff-recommended package of recreational cobia measures intended to keep Virginia’s share of the Northern region’s recreational quota within the new allocation framework approved under ASMFC Addendum 2. FMAC’s recommendation keeps the two-fish vessel limit and raises Virginia’s minimum size limit to 43 inches total length, paired with a modest extension of the season to Sept. 20 to balance the reduction target.
Shanna Madsen, deputy chief of fisheries management, told the committee that Addendum 2 replaces the older state-by-state recreational allocation approach with a regional framework (Northern region, Rhode Island to Virginia; Southern region, North Carolina to Georgia) and updates the years of MRIP data used to calculate allocations. She summarized the Technical Committee’s estimate that the Northern region must reduce recreational harvest about 15.9% against the coastwide recreational target (approximately 76,000 fish) and laid out options that would achieve that reduction.
Madsen described the chosen measure as a positive outcome for Virginia: "This management change in my mind is a really, really, really big win for Virginia," she said, noting that without the addendum Virginia would have faced much deeper reductions. The committee discussed alternatives (42- or 41-inch minima, slot limits, season changes) and the tradeoffs between size, season and vessel limits to reach the conservation equivalency.
Procedure and next steps: A committee member moved to adopt the staff recommendation (the motion was seconded) and members voted in favor; the committee did not record dissent on the floor. Madsen said the Northern-region states must develop a consensus implementation plan and submit it by Jan. 1, 2025; if states cannot agree, the ASMFC management board would select measures by email vote. States must implement final measures by April 1, 2025.
What it means: If the ASMFC management board accepts the regional implementation plan, Virginia and neighboring states will change recreational cobia regulations for 2025 to meet the Northern region reduction target. The changes affect recreational anglers and charter operators more than commercial fisheries; Madsen said commercial regulations will not change as a result of this action.
The commission-level vote on any regulation change will occur later: Madsen said this issue will come before the commission in February or March for a final decision and adoption of state regulations.
