Fisheries for black sea bass change seasonally with the species’ migrations. In the Mid-Atlantic, commercial fishermen mainly use hook-and-line gear, pots, and otter trawls to catch black sea bass.In 2019, commercial landings of black sea bass totaled 3.8 million pounds, and were valued at $12.6 million, according to the NOAA Fisheries commercial fishing landings database.Commercial fishery:Gear types, habitat impacts, and bycatch:.Spatial and temporal closures to minimize entanglement risk for endangered North Atlantic Right Whales.Pots are only allowed north of Cape Canaveral, Florida, to prevent adverse impacts on live-bottom habitat.Pots must be brought back to shore at the end of each trip to reduce bycatch and impacts to habitat and protected species.
Pots must have escape vents and escape panels with degradable fasteners to prevent bycatch.Minimum mesh size to reduce catch of undersized black sea bass.Commercial fishermen must have a pot endorsement to use a black sea bass pot to harvest black sea bass.Trawling has been banned in the South Atlantic since 1989 to prevent impacts to habitat.Seasonal area closures for the commercial black sea bass component of the snapper-grouper fishery.Accountability measures in place to ensure overfishing does not occur, or to correct for overages if catch limit is exceeded.Sale and purchase restrictions applicable after a commercial quota closure.Annual catch limits, commercial trip limits, and recreational bag and possession limits.Commercial fishermen must have a permit to harvest black sea bass.Managed under the South Atlantic Snapper Grouper Fishery Management Plan:.NOAA Fisheries and the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council manage the black sea bass fishery south of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.A moratorium on entry into the fishery.Specific management measures for the commercial fishery include:.
The commercial catch limit is further divided among the states based on historical harvests.Annual catch limit divided between the commercial and recreational fisheries.Managed under the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan:.