Black Sea Bass Image
 
Sea Bass
(Centripristis striatus)
 
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The black sea bass is a mild tasting fish with firm flesh that supports a small yet significant commercial fishery in New Jersey. Most often taken commercially in fish traps similar to lobster pots or with otter trawals, they are usually marketed as a whole, fresh product. 

Black sea bass have a range that extends from New England to Florida but they are most concentrated off Long Island and New Jersey. They can weigh upwards of five pounds but are most commonly available in the one to two pound range. 

Primarily bottom dwellers, they are fond of frequenting wrecks and other underseea structures. They migrate to deeper offshore waters in the autumn and return to the shallower waters as they warm in the spring.