Source: Black seabass season to close Feb. 12

  • Staff report
  • Posted: Monday, January 31, 2011 12:01 a.m.
    UPDATED: Friday, March 23, 2012 12:23 p.m.
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The black sea bass is one of the easiest-to-catch and most popular fish found off Charleston.
Matt Winter /The black sea bass is one of the easiest-to-catch and most popular fish found off Charleston.

The popular recreational fishery for black sea bass will close until June starting Feb. 12, according to federal fishery managers.

Tom Swatzel, a member of the South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council, announced that a regional administrator with the National Fisheries Management Service provided that closure start date today.

Anglers have feared a closure to the fishery for weeks; today was the first time the actual start date has been released.

The sea bass closure is the latest in a long line of tough fishing regulation put in place to meet stringent federal mandate to end overfishing quickly. Measures enacted over the past year or two have already severely curtailed both commercial and recreational fishing for various grouper and snapper species.

Federal regulators say the sea bass closure is necessary because anglers are on track to exceed the maximum allowable catch for this fishing year.

The Fisheries Service updates sea bass catches at its website.