The federal government is banning black sea bass angling, beginning Monday, for 180 days because the year’s catch is already over the 2009 quota.
The ban covers only federal waters that run from three to 200 miles offshore – but this is where 96 percent of New Jersey’s keeper black sea bass are landed. Fish are caught inside three miles, but are generally too small to keep. The minimum size is 12.5 inches.
The ban also would apply in state waters for anyone holding a federal permit to land black sea bass, said Maggie Mooney-Seus, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA.