NOAA To Close Recreational Fishery for Black Sea Bass for Six MonthsDue to Overharvest.
NOAA announced today the temporarily closure of the black sea bassrecreational fishery in federal waters north of Cape Hatteras, N.C., for 180 days in response to recent landings data that showed recreational fishermen may catch morethan double their annual quota by the end of the year. The closure will commence on Monday, October 5, 2009. Landings data and scientific analyses show recreational fishermen have reachedtheir quota and could exceed their 1.14 million pound harvest limit by as much as 84 to225 percent if the recreational fishery is not closed. An independent body of federal and university scientists recently determined that the black sea bass stock has been rebuilt. However, both the scientists and the Scienceand Statistical Committee of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council havecautioned against increasing fishing of this stock for several reasons, including the complex and poorly understood reproductive cycle, and limited information on life span and important habitats for this species. The Council recommends catch limits for blacksea bass in federal waters.
In laymens terms, waters (0 - 3 miles offshore) are still open for the recreational harvest of black sea bass with a possession limit of 25 fish and a minimum size limit of 12.5 inches. Also, even though State waters remain open for the black sea bass, party and charter boat operators with a Federal black sea bass permit are prohibited from harvesting black sea bass from both State and Federal waters as of the effective closure date.
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