Visual feeders during daylight hours, black sea bass rely on swift currents and their large mouths to capture their prey, which include other fish, crabs, mussels and razor clams. Although they do not travel in schools, they can be found in large groups around structures or during inshore-offshore migrations. The fish, ages two to five, produce approximately 280,000 eggs, which are buoyant and contain a single oil globule. Young black sea bass feed primarily on crustaceans, such as shrimp, amphipods and isopods. Black sea bass are reported to live as long as 20 years and reach a maximum adult size of two feet.
Large fish are more common offshore than in the Bay.
The black sea bass forms the base of an important recreational fishery. An estimated 1.5 million black sea bass were taken by anglers in the lower Bay in 1991. Anglers bottom fish using squid and other natural baits to catch this highly esteemed and flavorful fish. Gear types include trawls, pots and hook and line. In 1996 the Bay Program developed the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Coast Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan to enhance and perpetuate black sea bass stocks in the Bay and its tributaries.