From: cloyd_j@apollo.hp.com (John Cloyd)
Subject: re: overbearing ewnvironmentalists
Originator: cloyd_j@face_plant
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Company, Apollo Division - Chelmsford, MA
 
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 14:16:37 GMT

Andy with the asbestos jammies :-> :

> Slot limits to allow spawning,
>and total creel limits to limit impact seem to work in these situations.

>I am definitely expressing an opinion, based on snitches of info from articles, shows
>and conversations. I don't have the statistics to back up the guess which I am about
>to make: I don't think that a redfish, striper, salmon (I admit I'm not as sure about
>this one) tuna, dolphin (saltwater - etc) of catchable size has even a 10% chance of
>being caught by a recreational fishermen

    Hmm, I don't think you can generalize that much Andy, as the life cycle of a
redfish is probably vastly different than that of a tuna. I think a lot of people look
at the ocean and think 'well hell look at all that open water to hide in, you can
never fish them all out of that!', but that's not really the case. We know that most
of the east coast striper population comes from 2 or 3 breeding grounds. Yes, the fish
may roam from Delaware to New Brunswick, but if you really pound the crap out of the
small fish in those 3 key spots you're gonna eventually wipe out the run. Same with
redfish, and in Florida with snook. In the case of Pat's redfish, I would *guess*
that the 'bay' is an estuary where the small reds stay until they get big enough
to leave. In this case I can see a hell of a lot more than 10% being caught. In
the estuary areas I'm familiar with, at low tide all the fish are forced into
very obvious holding areas. When they're in these areas a recreational fisherman
can make a hell of a big impact on the population in just a few days. As an example,
last May when the schoolie stripers (20-25") were in my favorite Maine river I was
getting 15-25 a day fishing 1-2 hrs. a day**. Not many people fish this river, but
let's just say they did, and lets say the 36" limit was reduced to 18" and the limit
3 fish. 4 guys could pull 12 fish a day. The schoolies stay for about two months,
which means during this run 4 guys could kill 672 stripers before they got a chance
to spawn. That's only one tiny estuary. Multiply that over the fish' range and that
fishery's gonna be hit hard ! So getting back to Pat's example in Texas, if I'm 
a state marine biologist and I'm concerned with preserving the fishery, I'm probably
going to do one of three things; either put a size limit which will give the small
fish a chance to hit maturity, close the area to fishing entirely, or impose a
size limit and close the area to fishing during critical times. If you're at all 
familiar with the sea run brown trout restorations on Cape Cod, they used to do
this third option. I haven't been down there in many years so I'm not sure what the
deal is now. Many salmon rivers are closed to fishing above certain landmarks for
the same reason; if you steal the smolts before they grow big enough to migrate to
sea, a year class will disappear. So if I go to the statement you made on top about
slot limits, etc. I would suggest that this logic doesn't only apply to freshwater,
but to saltwater too. These fisheries were neglected for a long, long time, until 
all of a sudden people noticed they weren't catching any snook (or whatever). Now
we know enough to manage both fresh and salt fisheries better, and that's what we 
gotta do. Like you, I don't have time to dig for stats, but if my arguments seem
like B.S. to you I will. For a running view on it, though, I'd suggest following
the 'Coastwise' section in Salt Water Sportsman magazine, which btw is a great
source on info on marine conservation.


                                                        jc


**Note : No, I didn't do this every day, and when I did it was barbless
flies, all gently revived and released.

Newsgroups: alt.fishing