Big catches mask dwindling numbers of sea bass
Monday, October 3, 2011 - 13:00
in Earth & Climate
The populations of kelp bass and barred sand bass have plummeted 90% since 1980, a study says. Overfishing and warmer ocean temperatures are blamed. But sport-fishing boats have been able to keep their catch rates high in part because they have targeted bustling spawning grounds.As reliably as masses of sea bass gather off the Southern California coast each summer, boatloads of anglers arrive to reel them in.