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Scientists Hope to Aid Growing Demand for Cobia: Marine Researchers Are Releasing Hatchery-Reared Fish to Stock the Salty Waters of the York River.

Posted on: Friday, 16 June 2006, 15:00 CDT

By Fred Carroll, Daily Press, Newport News, Va.

Jun. 16--GLOUCESTER -- Marine researchers have released 175 hatchery-reared cobia into the York River in hopes of bolstering wild stocks amid growing demand among anglers for the saltwater finfish.

Cobia inhabit the Chesapeake Bay in spring and summer. They're healthy and plentiful but also popular and tasty.

"There's increasing pressure on the stock," said Mike Oesterling, a commercial fisheries specialist with the Virginia Sea Grant program. "We want to be ready in advance."

While freshwater rivers and streams are frequently stocked with fish grown in tanks, such as trout or salmon, the vast size of the Atlantic Ocean and tidal areas have overwhelmed stocking efforts in salty waters.

Future successful stocking could, however, prove a boon for a recreational fishing industry that spurs more than $820 million in spending each year in Virginia.

The young cobia released last week are below the legal size for anglers to keep.

If one is caught, fishermen are asked to write down a number tagged to the fish, note the location and place the fish back into the water without removing the tag.

They are then asked to call Oesterling at 804-684-7165.

Oesterling hopes that multiple catches and releases of the tagged fish will allow scientists to identify the preferred habitats of wild cobia.

Sea Grant researchers began studying cobia in the 1990s at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science in Gloucester County.

They were the first scientists to successfully spawn and raise cobia in captivity in the United States and their research lead to the opening of commercial hatcheries in the Caribbean.

Since then, Oesterling and his colleagues have studied ways to add to the wild stock while learning more about its favored habitat.

Even so, Oesterling does not know if the hatchery-reared cobia will forage and grow in wild waters. He doesn't know if they'll assimilate with wild cobia. He doesn't even know if they'll stay in the bay.

"The stock enhancement might be good for someone else and not for us," he said.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Daily Press, Newport News, Va.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Daily Press

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