Harvesting Cobia with the Aquaculture Research Team

Eliza shows off her filleting skills

Today we strayed from our usual “water parameter, goby feeding” routine and went diving into the offshore cage. We loaded nets, bags, and scuba gear into Red Rising. Sitting on the bow of the boat, we looked at the aquaculture cage 50 feet down in the water. Snappers, grouper, cobia, and even two bull sharks circled the cage. Then, we began our decent. As we approached the opening of the cage, our research advisor Tyler shoved us through because all our gear got caught on the net.  Tyler chopped open the pellets bag. Just as he did it, a yellow dust cloud engulfed the previously clear blue water. Pellets the size of dog food dropped out of this cloud; the cobia and yellow tail snapper darted towards the pellets. The feeding frenzy began, and equipped with a net we tried to sneak up on the fish.  It was a lot harder then we expected because not only did you have to concentrate on catching fish, but also your bouyancy, equalizing your ears, and even breathing.  Contrary to our belief that fish are stupid, the fish knew our malintention and swam away. We chased the fish and tried to maneuver the bulky net behind them. Never on another dive had we been that swarmed by fish. Our fins would occasionally graze the spiky back of the fish. Ben was the only student to catch a fish, but the leaders of our team caught 3 others. Upon returning to the dock, we flung the fish onto the work table at the dive locker. Alejandro’s finesse at fileting cobia made the process look easy. Considering it was our second time fileting the fish, we all went into it with a fair amount of confidence. We hacked at the fish until our bare stomachs were splattered with fish blood then fed the carcasses to the laughing sea gulls above.