A new increase in the size limits for black sea bass is the latest blow to charter captains, recreational anglers, and commercial fishermen who have all been hit hard by federal restrictions on offshore bottom fishing in the southeast.
The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council has approved new size limits for black sea bass up to 13 inches from 12 for recreational anglers and up 11 inches from 10 for commercial fishermen. A commercial trip limit of 1,000 pounds was also imposed.
The size limit is actually an attempt to prolong next year’s black sea bass season, but the success of that effort is far from certain.
The regulations have taken an economic toll in the Carolinas. The southeastern charter boat fleet, including the popular head boat fishery based in Little River, SC (just south of the NC state line) has already been hit hard by federal Annual Catch Limits that shortened last year’s season for black sea bass to only 4 ½ months.
Despite a reduction to a five sea bass per angler creel last year, the recreational season for black sea bass closed on Oct. 17, while commercial fishing closed on July 15. The season opens annually on June 1 leaving the once thriving head boats floating at the docks. Although a variety of fish can be caught on an offshore head boat trip out of Little River, black sea bass make up the majority of a customer's catch.
For an industry already hit by the recession and high gas prices the federal restrictions have been especially painful. The new limits were even harder to take for fishermen since the latest black sea bass stock assessment has declared that they are no longer overfished in the South Atlantic, and the feds have admitted their methods of counting sea bass and other fish stocks have been flawed.
Nevertheless the rulings by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council keep the Annual Catch Limits for black sea bass at the same numbers for the next two years, meaning early closures are likely again. An updated stock assessment will be presented after 2013.
The size limit changes might prolong the black sea bass season somewhat, but angry fishermen point out that the reduced creel of five fish failed to do so last year.
As recently as 2007 the Grand Strand charter fleets were operating under a creel of 20 fish with a 10 inch size limit and no catch limit closures. The quick end to last season has also led some fishermen to claim that the black sea bass stock is much healthier than the federal numbers imply.
The government is acting under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, originally passed in 1976 but amended in 2007 with many regulations requiring federal fisheries agencies to eliminate the overfishing of offshore stocks within a time frame that has already passed.
Black sea bass are not the only South Atlantic offshore fish that has been affected by increased federal regulations, as many grouper and snapper species have also had reductions or closures. Black sea bass, however, have been a staple of the Little River and Grand Strand party boat fishery for decades.
For more on Carolina fishing visit my blog A Dash of Salty or check out my new book Surf and Saltwater Fishing in the Carolinas.
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