Contemporary and future distributions of cobia, Rachycentron canadum

Aim: Climate change has influenced the distribution and phenology of marine species, globally. However, knowledge of the impacts of climate change are lacking for many species that support valuable recreational fisheries. Cobia (Rachycentron canadum) are the target of an important recreational fishery along the U.S. east coast that is currently the subject of a management controversy regarding allocation and stock structure. Further, the current and probable future distributions of this migratory species are unclear, further complicating decision-making. The objectives of this study are to better define the contemporary distribution of cobia along the U.S. east coast and to project potential shifts in distribution and phenology under future climate change scenarios.

Location: Chesapeake Bay and the U.S. east coast.

Methods: We developed a depth-integrated habitat suitability model using archival tagging data from cobia that were caught and tagged in Chesapeake Bay during summer mo...