White Seabass

White seabass aggregate to spawn but overall they are inherently resilient to fishing pressure because they mature young, have high fecundity, and the stocks are protected during their primary breeding season.

The white seabass populations that inhabit the Eastern Pacific between Alaska and southern California experienced severe declines in the past and some were overfished but they are currently classified as healthy with a moderate conservation concern. 

Most white seabass are caught with drift and set gillnets. Some fishermen, primarily off the California coast, use hook-and-line gear to catch white seabass. Drift gillnets and hook-and-line gear don’t touch the seafloor so they have minimal impacts on the marine habitat. However, set gillnets have weights that get dragged over rocky habitats, which has a moderate effect on the habitat, according to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Hook-and-line gear has minimal risk of bycatch in the white seabass fishery because anything caught can easily be released, but most of the fish are caught with gillnets that can accidentally ensnare protected Pacific white sharks and marine animals such as dolphins, sea lions, and sea birds. The actual bycatch rates in this fishery are not known.

Management of white seabass is considered effective. A fishery management plan drafted by scientists that requires an annual review was implemented in 1998 and updated in 2002. Fishery managers have maintained stock productivity, enforced regulations relating to gear, logbooks, catch size and weight, as well as seasonal and area closures, according to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.