A Cobia Fishery Protection Timeline

David Harter - May 29, 2007

I've had a huge amount of feedback this last week from fishermen concerned about the increasingly heavy pressure put on our cobia stocks that return this time every year to Beaufort County waters. The comments ranged from those who believed that they had a god given right to shoot the last buffalo to those who thought that closing the waters during that suspected spawning time was appropriate. I've had impressive annual catch numbers sent to me by the "Allen Iversons" of charter captains refuting any need for protection. They were unable to tell me how many points the rest of the team scored and if the game was lost anyway. Also, by nature, fishermen who are not very good always think that the fishing is bad. Many relied on the suicidal adage that the government will take care of us and tell us if we have a problem. Up until about 6 years ago there was ZERO attention paid to our cobia fishery by the state or the federal fisheries managers. It was then, out of concern about fishing pressure that the Hilton Head Island Sportfishing Club and some of the charter captains asked the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) to do a baseline assessment of South Carolina's cobia fishery. Marine biologist Don Hammond published that report in 2001. Then the Waddell Mariculture Center chimed in with their plans to piggyback on some existing grants to develop fish farming and learn how to raise cobia for stock enhancement, like they do for red drum. A number of fishermen donated brood stock and the Center's program boomed, convincing us that if we developed problems in the future, the Center had a rapid response action plan. Then, Chris Kalinowsky, a Georgia DNR associate marine biologist who lives in Beaufort County offered to do a post graduate paper on our cobia. Chris goes to all the cobia tournaments and measures and autopsies all the fish that are brought in, checking their sex, stomach content, age, weights and DNA. SCDNR marine biologist Mike Denson is working with Chris to enhance those studies and coordinates them with other cobia programs. Mike also established a DNA collection program that can be used by any fishermen. DNA analysis will help us to fill in gaps that we could never afford to before. A number of carcasses are also donated regularly by the North Island Charter Fleet captains and collected at their docks. In 2004 the Hilton Head Reef Foundation purchased jointly, with SCDNR, five satellite pop-up tags to be placed on adult cobia to track their movements and study their habits. The last three of those tags were placed two weeks ago. The South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium has approved funding the Foundation for additional satellite tags for the 2008 season. SCDNR has also purchased a special conventional fish tag to be used just on our cobia. These are distributed and tracked by the Foundation and SCDNR. The Foundation is also pursuing funds for a methylmercury study for this next season. As you can see there is no shortage now of research attention paid to our cobia fishery. It is perhaps the most comprehensive in the country. I hope you also see that this attention was a result of the fishermen asking for it not because of a spontaneous reaction by the state. Because of our narrow minded attitude about budget cuts in Columbia we have decimated SCDNR's ability to do what they need to protect our coastal fisheries from it's population boom. It's even more difficult for them to commit dwindling resources to a localized fishery. Right now we are the squeaky wheels and SCDNR understands the socio-economic importance of this fishery. Because the season is relatively short (75 days), Mother Nature is plodding and we have these excellent research projects well underway, we have the luxury of being deliberate about our management decisions. Chris Kalonowsky's work will finish up this year. Mike Denson will continue carcass analysis, DNA collection and coordinating the work of the Waddell Center into next year. The Foundation should have satellite tag reports by early fall and should be able to place three more next spring and get the results by the fall of 2008. Chris Kalinowsky's and Mike Denson's work is extremely important in understanding which fish are the most important to the reproductive cycle. It could be that the smaller females or males are more important. SCDNR is also doing work on understanding the importance of climatic conditions, El Nino vs. La Nina cycles, which may shed some light on the reason for lean years and when to do stock enhancement. I would expect that Mike and Chris should be able to give us a preliminary report this winter and twice as much data by the fall of 2008. Because none of the mechanics of dealing with our state legislature or the Feds is easy and because this is a localized concern we need to have as much ammunition as we can if we decide to take action. The Hilton Head Island Sportfishing Club and it's Foundation will set up some public informational meetings this winter and post some of the preliminary data on their website at www.reeffoundation.com. In the meantime, all of you professional and armchair marine biologists who are wealthy with advice, you can get rich on participation by volunteering carcasses and brood stock, collect DNA samples, get tagging kits, raise money for research, and write letters to your legislators to protect SCDNR and the Waddell Center. If the fishermen didn't help, this research could go on forever and become irrelevant. We need to investigate the significance of getting game fish status for cobia. Right now there is nothing to prevent or control a commercial fishery. What you will see is more law enforcement attention for both the harvesting and sales of cobia. Take a tour of the Waddell Center's cobia tanks and ponds (compliments of funding by the Hilton Head Reef Foundation). Encourage conservative practices by the cobia tournaments and get them to contribute to the research. The Hilton Head Island Food and Beverage Tournament is the only one that makes a monetary contribution. We don't want to discourage kill tournaments because this is sometimes the best place to get research data. The cobia fishery generates a lot of emotion, primarily, I believe, because of the close proximity of the fishermen. We can go to the Gulf Stream and shoot fish or use dynamite, and no one would know. In the Broad River we are only a hundred yards or less apart; we see everyone's mistakes and abuses. There are few secrets. Regardless of whether you are a buffalo hunter or a PETA member, do something relevant. If you want to help, contact me through the Foundation website or at 785-4106