2 
Joseph W. Smith 
rays (Joseph et al. 1964, McClane 1965, Shaffer and Nakamura 1989). 
Their size, commonly exceeding 23 kg (McClane 1965), and nearshore 
residence during spring through summer, make them a favorite of 
coastal recreational fishermen. Recent estimates (1991) place recreational 
cobia landings along the United States south Atlantic coast (292,600 
kg) at five times that of commercial landings (58,000 kg)(Isley 1992). 
To date, Richards (1967) conducted the most comprehensive life 
history study of cobia on the Atlantic coast of the United States, 
collecting specimens during the mid-1960s in lower Chesapeake Bay. 
Various facets of cobia biology have been examined, including feeding 
habits (Knapp 1951, Darracott 1977), reproduction (Biesiot et al. 1994), 
spawning areas and season (Joseph et al. 1964), movements and growth 
(Richards 1977, Franks 1995), rearing eggs and larvae (Hassler and 
Rainville 1975), and egg and larval distributions (Ditty and Shaw 
1992). Recent mitochondrial DNA analyses (Hrincevich and Biesiot 
1994) suggested that cobia from the northern Gulf of Mexico and 
the south Atlantic coast of the United States should be considered 
a unit stock. Shaffer and Nakamura (1989) compiled a biological synopsis 
of the species. 
My interest in cobia stems from (1) a perceived increase in fishing 
effort for the species along the North Carolina coast during the 1980s, 
including a directed charter boat fishery for cobia at Ocracoke Inlet 
and the establishment of a cobia fishing tournament in Carteret County, 
and (2) the lack of contemporary fishery statistics on which to base 
cobia stock assessments (Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic Fishery 
Management Councils 1985, Isley 1989). Objectives were to elucidate 
various aspects of cobia life history in North Carolina waters, in particular, 
age and size composition of the recreational catch, distribution, feeding 
habits, and reproduction. 
MATERIALS AND METHODS 
Recreational fishermen in the Morehead City-Beaufort area (Carteret 
County) of the central North Carolina coast (Fig. 1) were the major 
sources of specimens from 1983 to 1994. Beginning in June 1987 
and each spring thereafter, fish were processed at a local cobia tournament. 
Additionally, during 1989-92 charter boat captains and tackle shop 
proprietors at Ocracoke Island and Hatteras, North Carolina, provided 
frozen cobia carcasses, individually labeled with date, location of capture, 
and whole (round) mass; for most of these specimens the head, axial 
skeleton and viscera were intact. Carcasses were returned to the laboratory 
biweekly for processing. Additional specimens came from pound nets 
and haul seines in Pamlico Sound near Cape Hatteras, ocean research 
