# Help Stop a Cobia Closure: Tell the Senate to Vote Yes on HR1335



## French (Jun 18, 2005)

Folks, SAMFC is closing down cobia season in federal waters on June 15th, and is trying to force North Carolina and Virginia to do the same in state waters. North Carolina just reduced their daily creel limit, but are being told that will only add a handful of days to the season. The Senate Committee of Commerce Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard will be meeting Tuesday, February 23rd, to discuss HR 1335 Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act legislation that will allow more fisherman input in the calculation of the annual catch limits, and provide more redress for fishermen and flexibility in the management plans that consider local economy. If this legislation isn't passed, it is likely that we will see early closures of the cobia fishery for the foreseeable future.

Please contact the following Senators who are members of the subcommittee. Here are their email links. 

Marco Rubio: http://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact
Ted Cruz: http://www.cruz.senate.gov/?p=email_senator
Kelly Ayotte: https://www.ayotte.senate.gov/?p=contact
Ron Johnson: www.ronjohnson.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact
Roger Wicker : https://www.wicker.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact
Dan Sullivan: http://www.sullivan.senate.gov/contact/email
Cory Booker: https://www.booker.senate.gov/?p=contact
Maria Cantwell: www.cantwell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/email-maria
Richard Blumenthal www.blumenthal.senate.gov/contact/
Brian Schatz www.schatz.senate.gov/contact
Gary Peters www.peters.senate.gov/contact/email-gary
Ed Markey www.markey.senate.gov/contact

You can use my letter, but please personalize it with your own words. If they get 30 versions of the same letter, they will ignore it:

I am writing to ask for your support to pass HR 1335, Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act. South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council has announced that they will close federal waters to cobia fishing from Georgia to New York on June 15th as result of the mid-Atlantic states exceeding the annual catch limit for cobia in 2015. SAFMC is also leveraging states to issue closures in state waters, or they will be non-compliant with the Magnuson-Stevens Act. This closure will be devastating to recreational and charter boat fishermen. Prime season for cobia is May-August in North Carolina, with fish not arriving for pier anglers until around July 1. Cobia generally are not caught in the Chesapeake Bay until at least the first of June.

Recreational anglers do not dispute that the ACL was exceeded. However, SAFMC split the old Atlantic ACL of 1.4 million pounds into two zones at the end of 2014. One (Florida from Key West to the Georgia state line) received 880,000 pounds of the ACL quota of cobia. The other (Georgia to New York) only received 620,000 pounds of quota even though NOAA's own data indicates that cobia populations and the number of people targeting cobia is much higher in Virginia and North Carolina. With this allocation of the quota, even a record poor season would have likely exceeded the ACL. We were set up for this closure, and there appears to be no redress for fishermen, who only found out about the potential closures a week ago and now it appears to be rote.

I am a recreational angler who travels to the Bay and North Carolina to target these fish. However, countless friends make their living as charter boat captains, tackle shop owners, custom rod builders, lure designers, and pier employees. Many of them could lose half to almost all their business because of this ruling, despite the fact that SAFMC's North Carolina representative stated at the North Carolina Marine Fishery Council meeting today that cobia are "not overfished." The population is as strong as I can recall it being in my 20 years of saltwater fishing. We just had a record season. Fishermen at these meetings have been absolutely open to reducing creel limits, increasing size limits, and instituting boat limits. NOAA, SAFMC, and other agencies appear to be unmoved and there is no redress.

Please help us. This legislation appears to give fishermen some form of redress in the face of sketchy ACL determinations by NOAA. It makes collection more accurate. And hopefully, it will defeat bureaucrats who rationalize that the same number of people catching more fish is indicative of there being more fish to catch, not less. We have issues with fisheries management. Cobia has been a success and there is a thriving recreational industry around the species. Don't let NOAA do this. Please move the bill forward in Committee.


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## marv1234 (Nov 10, 2014)

I could contact them but most if not all of them do not give a crap. Anyways they are just trying to keep up with California when it comes to fishing regulations. As here the regulations are strict and overly controlled. What they are trying to do probably is close the season when fish are breeding and open it back up when they stop breeding. That way the fish can thrive and grow in populations. Same thing they do with Tautog.


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## Dr. Bubba (Nov 9, 1999)

marv1234 said:


> I could contact them but most if not all of them do not give a crap. Anyways they are just trying to keep up with California when it comes to fishing regulations. As here the regulations are strict and overly controlled. What they are trying to do probably is close the season when fish are breeding and open it back up when they stop breeding. That way the fish can thrive and grow in populations. Same thing they do with Tautog.


Actually, they're wanting to close it right when the bite is hot in NC/VA. In the Bay here, they knock off in July for the big spawn, then show back up around structure in August.
Fed waters might make sense, along w size/creel limit changes in state waters. Maybe even release of truly large big spawners during that time would make sense. Either way, I don't think the cobia are hurting right now, and you shouldn't throw that small inshore charter biz for a loop.


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## French (Jun 18, 2005)

Dr. Bubba said:


> Actually, they're wanting to close it right when the bite is hot in NC/VA. In the Bay here, they knock off in July for the big spawn, then show back up around structure in August.
> Fed waters might make sense, along w size/creel limit changes in state waters. Maybe even release of truly large big spawners during that time would make sense. Either way, I don't think the cobia are hurting right now, and you shouldn't throw that small inshore charter biz for a loop.


Based on what Louis Daniels said and the other comments from the members of the NC MFC said, if the states don't match the federal closure in state waters, they will be out of compliance with federal law. The problem primarily is that the way Magnuson-Stevens law was written, the only mitigating factor is the number of fish caught, not the number of fish caught factored by the number of fish in the biomass.


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## Erie Warrior (Aug 5, 2007)

Catch 'em all until they're gone. Fish are overrated anyway.


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## sand flea (Oct 24, 1999)

There's a parallel conversation going on over on the NC board...


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## Gditm (Mar 2, 2016)

Erie Warrior said:


> Catch 'em all until they're gone. Fish are overrated anyway.


That's what most people want.


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## Canon (Jun 26, 2012)

Maybe there needs to be a closure...they got beat up this past year


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## gordy (Aug 20, 2004)

FYI- it will be an absolute closure, not just Federal waters but state waters as well. You will be able to keep no cobia after June 15th to December 31st in any Virginia waters.


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## jay b (Dec 1, 2002)

right about the time they show up and well after they leave so yeah pretty much a complete closure


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## ncdead (Jun 16, 2015)

Don't know about Virginia but in North Carolina they settled on dropping the daily limit to one fish per day per angler instead of a closure in 2016.


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## gordy (Aug 20, 2004)

ncdead said:


> Don't know about Virginia but in North Carolina they settled on dropping the daily limit to one fish per day per angler instead of a closure in 2016.


An attempt by NC to be proactive. They will be forced though into an absolute closure as well though unless SAFMC can be stopped. If North Carolina does not follow suit with the federal closure proposed by SAFMC then SAFMC will with-hold annual state funding and NC isn't going to risk losing that.


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## hawaii50 (Sep 21, 2012)

alotta pier rats gonna be upset bout this one...
http://pilotonline.com/sports/outdo...cle_79e563ba-dc02-5da4-adfb-354685ff433d.html

vmrc link

http://www.mrc.virginia.gov/Notices/2016/pn_cobia-news_03-10-16.shtm


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