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Slots are for casinos not fish, at least not right now for SB.
It places all the pressure on fish in one small age segment. Maybe, let's say if the population were at its peak again, it might help deter the trophy killing attitude inherent of the east coast SB fishermen.
Right now, at the current population levels it's a bad idea. The 2011 yoy may save fishing in general for SB at least for awhile in the years to come. A 2@28-whatever slot limit is a sure fire way to knock that year class out of the water. At least more quickly, because it would be targeting what is remaining.
A discussion like this one is worth having because solutions may present themselves or at the very least, ways in which stock depletion is less severe.
For example would the fishery be where it is now had it stayed at one fish? Maybe not but it may have placed additional pressure on prey species that the bass depend on and based on the harvest levels of prey species by large scale netters such as Omega groups, the bass might have been in the same situation by a catastrophic drop in population due to lack of forage.
Looking backwards is ok to see what has been done wrong but looking forward to solutions for long term sustainability is more important.
I have fished a lake that has slot limits for a few years now and I either catch dinks or a few monster fish but I wouldn't call it good. The title of the fishery is a trophy bass lake and that is how it's managed. The slot caters to the trophies. The very few that "make it" become protected, and just as difficult to catch as they ever were. It's just as high pressured as the ocean is these days.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device
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