Sea bass grow to a length of 2 feet or more and a few reach a weight of 7½ pounds; but northern specimens are seldom heavier than 5 pounds, and they average only about 1½ pounds. A fish a foot long weighs about one pound, one of 18 to 20 inches about 3 pounds.
The sea bass contrasts with the striped bass in being strictly confined to salt water. The sea bass enters our Gulf only as a rare stray from the south, Pemaquid Point and Matinicus Island being its nothernmost known outposts. Too scarce to be of any importance in the Gulf, the sea bass is a very valuable food and game fish in more southern waters.
From Fishes of the Gulf of Maine by Bigelow and Schroeder (1953) online courtesy of MBL/WHOI http://www.gma.org/fogm/Centropristes_striatus.htm
My boat was berthed next to a commercial hook and line black sea bass fisherman in Little Creek (Norfolk), VA for a time. He would anchor about 50 miles off Chesapeake Light and bring in about 3,000 pounds per trip, which he sold directly to a couple restaurants. This is one of the sweetest fish I have tasted. We filleted them, shook them up in a bag of breading from the Piggly Wiggly market, dumped them into a fry pot. Everyone stood around the pot, no utensils but paper towels and washed them down with Bud Light.
Al Bezanson
Good Morning Gloucester 