Jones Urges Changes To Federal Cobia Management | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Washington D.C.     Today, Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) urged the South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council (SAFMC) to consider several changes to management of Atlantic cobia. If current regulations are allowed to stand, the 2016 federal recreational season for cobia will be shortened considerably and close on June 20th. In a letter to the South Atlantic Council sent today, Jones argues that the closure is based on suspect science and discriminates against fishermen in North Carolina and Virginia.

    "Unless the South Atlantic Council takes action to improve the management of cobia, fishermen in North Carolina and Virginia, as well as the businesses and communities that support them, will be subject to lost fishing opportunities and undue economic harm," said Congressman Jones.

    To improve the situation, the Congressman asked the Council to consider the following actions:

• ask the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for an emergency measure to provide additional 2016 recreational fishing opportunities for Atlantic cobia in federal waters;
• use a Framework Amendment to the existing cobia management plan to, among other things, eliminate discriminatory impacts to North Carolina and Virginia fishermen in 2017 and beyond; and,
• work with NMFS to improve the science used in the management of all fisheries, including cobia.
   

    The Council is scheduled to review cobia management at its upcoming June 13-17 summer meeting in Cocoa Beach, Florida. A copy of Congressman Jones' letter to the Council can be found here.

    For additional information, please contact Sarah Howard in Congressman Jones' office at (202) 225-3415 or sarah.howard@mail.house.gov.