(Kendall 1977). Black sea bass are protogynous hermaphrodites, beginning life 

 as females and transforming into males, but the sex of individuals remains 

 functionally distinct at all times. The size and age at which sex reversal 

 takes place is variable, but it usually takes place after spawning in the 

 autumn. 



Black sea bass are omnivores and feed on a variety of fish, molluscs, 

 echinoderms and plants. Adults prefer crabs and fish, while the young eat 

 shrimp, isopods and amphipods (Kendall 1977). 



Based on commercial landings between 1962 and 1972, there was a steady 

 decrease in the population. However, by 1975 there were indications of 

 recovery, and the landings have stabilized at about 2,000 MT for the last half 

 of the decade. 



Bottom Trawl Survey Results 



The cumulative spring and autumn distributions over the time series are 

 shown in Figures 14.1 and 14.2. These plots are generally representative of 

 what is known of black sea bass distribution and movements. The spring 

 distribution shows the fish concentrated offshore along the 100 m contour. If 

 the spring data were gathered more synoptical ly, the inshore concentration, as 

 indicated in Figure 14.1, would not be nearly so pronounced. In Figure 14.3, 

 data from all cruises prior to 1976 have been deleted and what is considered a 

 more representative spring distribution pattern is evident. 



The recovery of sea bass populations since the mid-1970's, indicated in 

 the commercial records, also can be seen in the graphs of mean weight and 

 number per tow (Figures 14.4-14.7). 



Length frequencies for six strata sets, arranged by season, are shown in 

 Figures 14.8-14.19. Young black sea bass (<10 cm) were found in all sets 



318 



