Adult black sea bass are considered to be a temperate reef fish. They are typically bottom dwelling marine fishes and are most often found on rocky bottoms near reefs, wrecks, oyster bars, pilings, or jetties. They are predators, relying on their large mouths and swift movements to capture their prey. They typically feed on crabs, mussels, razor clams, and fishes. Although black sea bass are not schooling fish, they can be found in large aggregations around structure or during inshore-offshore migrations.
Adults migrate inshore and northward as water temperatures increase in the spring.
They return to coastal and ocean waters, moving southward and offshore in the fall as water temperatures drop. Chesapeake Bay Management Recent stock assessment results indicate that black sea bass are overharvested. According to a 1995 National Marine Fisheries Service Advisory Report, black sea bass in the mid-Atlantic region are over exploited and at a low level of abundance. The Council approved regulations for black sea bass as Amendment 9 to the Summer Flounder Plan in May 1996. Amendment 12 to the Summer Flounder Plan, which establishes revised overfishing definitions, and identification and description of essential fish habitat, proposes to change the overfishing definition for black sea bass, with F max serving as a proxy for F msy .