NY Anglers: Take the DEC’s Black Sea Bass Survey by Jan. 19
New York is setting its 2026 recreational black sea bass rules—and DEC is asking anglers and the industry to weigh in on how to apply the 20% coastwide harvest increase.
What’s happening
- In December, ASMFC and NOAA Fisheries/Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council approved a 20% increase in coastwide recreational black sea bass harvest for the 2026–2027 season.
- Those bodies set the coastwide target, but DEC decides the management measures for New York within that framework.
- The survey is meant to capture preferences on how that increase is applied—season structure, size limits, and bag limits.
Why your response matters
The DEC will move forward with a program either way. If anglers don’t respond, the outcome is shaped by limited feedback and assumptions instead of real-world preferences from the people actually fishing for sea bass.
Survey link:
forms.office.com/…/2026blackseabass
The Author’s Perspective
I primarily fish for black sea bass from a kayak in western Long Island Sound. Most trips involve sorting through shorts and releasing a high percentage of fish. Because of that, I’m cautious about assuming that lowering the size limit automatically improves the fishery. In areas where keepers are already scarce, harvesting smaller fish could just as easily make things worse over time. That’s why angler input matters here.
Nick Cancelliere is a NYSDEC-licensed fishing guide and staff member at On The Water. He has fished the North and South shores of Long Island for more than 20 years from party boats, piers, kayaks, and the surf. His perspectives are informed by decades on the water targeting striped bass, black sea bass, fluke, porgy, tautog, and false albacore.