July 11, 2012 – It’s a good year for black sea bass across the Atlantic Seaboard, as the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries’ 2012 Stock Assessment upgraded the status of the fish both above and below Cape Hatteras to recovering.
Recovering stock shows a marked and consistent improvement in its age distribution and number of spawning-age females, but has not yet met its target population.
Black sea bass south of Cape Hatteras have been under federal regulation since 2006, and this years’ stock assessment bumps them up from depleted.
"This is pretty significant," said Chip Collier, southern district manager of the DMF. "And it reflects what fishermen have been seeing in their catches. They’ve been seeing lots of them, bigger and in more areas."
Current commercial regulations on black sea bass allow for the collection of 35 sea bass pots per day, and 1,000 pounds per trip on commercial fishing vessels, with an 11-inch size limit on the fish.
For recreational fishermen, that size is bumped up to 13 inches, and they are allowed to take up to five fish bags.
Collier attributed the improvement in the stock to stricter regulations on fishermen. Size limits protected smaller black sea bass from being harvested in shallow water and gave them a chance to grow, while strict quotas made for extremely restricted fishing seasons. Black sea bass season can run from June through October, but it is called off as soon as the season’s quota has been met. The 2011 black sea bass season found its quota met in only six weeks.
Read the full story at Lumina News.