IDENTIFICATION AND SIZE

Easily identified by its oval shape, the black bream is a silvery, scaly metalliclooking fish that is often tinged blue with vertical banded lines across the back. From the family of fishes called Perciformes (perch-like), they have a full-length dorsal with spines, gill plates with a very sharp edge, plus jaws with four to six rows of razor-sharp teeth that allow this predatory species to hunt with less chance of being the hunted.

Like all British sea bream, they are related to the many bream species that frequent the Mediterranean, so it is fair to say they are a warm-water species.

The British record for the black bream is 6lb 14oz. A good bream is anything over 3lb, while a 4lb fish is a very good specimen. If you catch a bream over 5lb you’re a lucky angler.