Commercial Harvest of Atlantic Group Cobia (Georgia through New York) Will Close in Federal Waters on December 16, 2022

What/when:

• Commercial harvest of Atlantic group cobia (Georgia through New York) will close in federal waters at 12:01 a.m., local time, December 16, 2022.  Commercial harvest will reopen in federal waters at 12:01 a.m., local time, on January 1, 2023.  

Why this closure is happening:

• The 2022 commercial quota is 73,116 pounds whole or gutted weight.  Projections by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission indicate the 2022 Atlantic group cobia quota for the commercial sector will be reached by December 16, 2022.
• This closure is necessary to protect the Atlantic cobia resource by preventing the commercial quota from being exceeded.

 After the closure:

• The harvest, sale, trade, barter, or purchase of Atlantic migratory group cobia in or from federal waters during a closure is prohibited.  These prohibitions do not apply to the sale or purchase of Atlantic cobia that were harvested, landed ashore, and sold prior to 12:01 a.m., local time, December 16, 2022, and were held in cold storage by a dealer or processor.

This bulletin provides only a summary of the existing regulations.  Full regulations can be found in the Federal Register or at https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-50/chapter-VI/part-697/subpart-B/section-697.28.

Original source can be found here