SECTION 14 

 3 lack sea bass ( Csntropristis striata) 



Life History Summary 



Black sea bass are commonly found from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to Cape 

 Canaveral, Florida, and south to Miami, and occasionally in the Gulf of 

 Maine. South of Cape Hatteras, black sea bass are year-round residents in 

 depths ranging from 10 to 120 m. North of Cape Hatteras, a seasonal inshore- 

 offshore migration is observed: in the spring, migrating adults move to their 

 coastal spawning areas and the juveniles to estuarine nursery areas; in late 

 autumn they again move offshore. Larger and older fish move offshore sooner 

 and spend the winter in deeper water (73-165 m) than the smaller fish (Kendall 

 and Mercer 1980). The seasonal distribution of black sea bass seems to be 

 influenced by temperature, with 10°C as the lower preferred limit (Kendall 

 1977). Based on catch records (NMFS) since 1900, it appears that their center 

 of abundance has shifted southward from the New York Bight to the Chesapeake 

 3ay region. 



Black sea bass are taken in both commercial and recreational fisheries. 

 Commercially, black sea bass are taken using otter trawls, pound nets, hand 

 lines and traps. The commercial fishery is predominantly domestic, and during 

 1975 approximately 2,319 metric tons (MT) were reportedly landed (Pileggi and 

 Thompson 1978). The recreational catch appears to be larger than the 

 commercial catch (McHugh and Ginter 1978). 



Black sea bass spawn planktonic eggs in depths ranging from 18 to 45 m in 

 late May off Chesapeake Bay and early summer off southern New England. Eggs 

 hatch in about three days at 16°C, and fol lowing early larval development, the 

 young move inshore and become associated with hard bottoms such as oyster beds 



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