DNREC Regulations Revised for Recreational Fishing for Black Sea Bass – Season to Open May 1
TOD ARCHIVE / 05-23-18 Mess Of Black Sea Bass – Capt. Dave Collins had a charter on opening day of black sea bass and took his boat the Capt. Ike II out to the Dry Docks. While using clams and squid he wound up with a boat limit that weighed in at 142lbs. Pictured are Matt Merrick, JC Dennis, Ryan Harris and Buddy Patton, not pictured are Greg Sizemore and Bruce Vincent all from Georgetown, DE.
DNREC is revising the recreational fishing state regulations for black sea bass to reflect a greater abundance of that species for anglers to catch – but warn that federal regulations may or may not change to match the state regulations by the time the season opens on May 1st.
The 2026 and 2027 changes reduce the minimum size for black sea bass from 13 to 12 ½ inches, open the season sooner (May 1) and eliminate an in-season closure from October 1 through 9th. The recreational daily black sea bass possession limit remains at 15.
The changes apply to Delaware waters – which extend to 3 miles offshore.
Additional information from DNREC:
The revisions followed an MAFMC-ASMFC meeting last August to review the 2025 management track assessment. The review determined that black sea bass were not overfished as a species and that spawning stock biomass for black sea bass was estimated to be almost three times higher than the target of the fishery management plan.
MAFMC and ASMFC went on to approve a recreational harvest limit (RHL) of 8.14 million pounds for both 2026 and 2027, denoting a 30% increase over the 2025 RHL. The RHL increase led MAFMC and ASMFC to revise recreational regulations for the entire management unit, raising the black sea bass recreational harvest by 20% for 2026 and 2027. The Southern Region of the management unit, which includes Delaware, was limited by ASMFC to a 16.5% harvest increase.
The DNREC order on regulatory changes applies to Delaware waters, which extend to three miles offshore. Noteworthy is that most of Delaware’s recreational black sea bass catch occurs in federal waters, which extend from three to 200 miles offshore, and federal regulations have traditionally been updated to match the state regulations. However, NOAA Fisheries, the federal agency responsible for ensuring that black sea bass regulations in federal waters align with regs in state waters, is behind schedule in implementing its regulatory changes, casting doubt on whether federal and state regulations will be aligned by May 1.
MAFMC and ASMFC have both sent letters urging NOAA Fisheries to immediately finalize federal regulations for black sea bass. Until that time, default regulations in effect for black sea bass in waters three miles from shore or more call for a minimum size of 15 inches, an open season May 15 through Sept. 8, and a daily possession limit of five fish. The DNREC Fisheries Section alerts anglers that the situation with NOAA is still evolving and could be settled by the time Delaware’s recreational black sea bass season opens May 1.