Round fish · Boat
Black bream
Off Anglesey and the Llŷn on summer reefs. Use light gear and small hooks.
- Know it
- Deep, grey-silver body with faint vertical bars and a spiny dorsal fin.
- Bait
- Thin squid or mackerel strip
- Rigs
- Bream rig
- Table
- Excellent eating Lovely eating. Scale it well, then bake or barbecue it whole.
Season
Typical months on the North West and North East coasts, with this month ringed. Seasons shift a few weeks with water temperature and run differently around the coast: see each region's headline fish below.
Legal minimum size
Black bream
Last checked 18 October 2026Measured from the tip of the snout to the end of the tail (rays: wing tip to wing tip). Each region links to its regulator.
| Area | Minimum |
|---|---|
| North West England | 23cm |
| North Wales | 23cm |
| Yorkshire to the Tyne | No legal minimum |
| Northumberland | No legal minimum |
| Cardigan Bay and the Llyn | 23cm |
| Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly | 23cm |
| Dorset, Hampshire and the Solent | 23cm |
| Sussex | 23cm (check locally) |
No size for this fish is listed in the regional rules we checked for Pembrokeshire, Gower and South Wales, Severn estuary, Somerset and North Devon, South Devon. That may mean none is set, or that the national rules apply: check locally.
and 7 other regionsRules change, usually each spring. Check the regulator for the area before you keep a fish.
A headline fish in
May to September
Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
Deep water off south-coast piers and rocks. Small hooks with squid strip or ragworm.
April to September
South Devon
Plymouth Sound and Torbay rocks and piers. Small hooks with squid strip or ragworm, fished light.
April to October
Dorset, Hampshire and the Solent
Weymouth, Portland and Purbeck. Small hooks with thin strips of squid or rag, fished just off rough ground.
April to October
Sussex
Mostly a boat fish, but harbour walls take some. Small hooks with squid strips.
Where to catch it
Regions with marks where black bream is one of the main fish, and how many marks.
How to cook it
Lovely eating. Scale it well, then bake or barbecue it whole. Simple ways to cook it at home. More on bleeding, gutting, filleting and freezing in From sea to plate.
Method 1
Baked or barbecued whole
Scale it well and gut it, slash the skin, stuff with lemon and herbs, brush with oil and season. Bake at 200C (fan 180C) for 15 to 20 minutes, or barbecue for 5 to 6 minutes a side.