Will Aquacultures Save the Black Sea Bass?
The Black Sea Bass is a popular fish among sport fishers and sushi lovers alike, but during recent decades the landings have decrease along the United States Atlantic coast. This has caused the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a governmental agency responsible for supervising National Marine Sanctuaries, to launch two separate culture trials focused on Black Sea Bass farming in aquacultures. So far, the results have been promising, according to an article published by Physorg.com.
Fishery biologists at the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service lab in Milford, Connecticut, have been able to show that Black Sea Bass can be spawned in captivity and grown from larvae to adults in a so called recirculation aquaculture system (RAS). The Black Sea Bass is a hermaphrodite. It starts out as a female and will then turn into a male when it is roughly 2-5 years old.
The geographical range of the Black Sea Bass stretches from Cape Cod to Florida where it inhabits shallow environments along the shore during the summer season. It seems to prefer rocky bottoms and is often found near reefs and man-made structures such as piers and wrecks. Each fall, the adult fish head offshore and stay in deep waters until spring.
If you want to find out more about the Black Sea Bass and how it can be grown in aquacultures, read the full article at Physorg.com.