I think a lot of you have missed the point on the slot limit issue, which after reading through the posts seems clouded with hypotheticals and what-ifs. Connecticut enacted a very similar slot limit two years ago. The fact is, the CT slot protects prime breeding fish between 32 and 41 inches. More breeders means strong year classes. The reason the 36 inch limit seemed so successful is because it was enacted to protect a specific year class from the Chesapeake. As those fish grew, the length limit grew until those fish reached about 36 or 38 inches. The reason you saw a lot of good fish is because that was a strong year class and nobody was taking them because limits were raised to protect them.
A second fact that has not been addressed here is that fish under 28 inches are roughly a 50/50 mix of male and female. Fish over 34 inches or so are almost entirely female. Additionally, very large fish of over 45 inches begin to lose their breeding vitality.
Some people argue that low slot lengths would keep fish from breeding at all, which seems to be disputed by the male vs female numbers at that age. One male fish can fertilize several females, so their importance is not as great to the quality of the fishery.
Several of the posts here indicate that individual sportsmen are fairly responsible. This is likely a true statement but our biggest enemies when it comes to growing a truely healthy striper population are the rod and reel commercials and the charter industry.
Striped Bass have a fairly limited value as a food fish. The rod and reel commercial fishery, in my opinion, serves mainly to finance fishermen's hobbies and allow guys to make a quick buck doing something they enjoy. The cape is perhaps the worst example of this. I know of a few wealthy individuals with boats who can afford to take the summer off, and subsequently run out of Chatham every day to take numbers of fish over the commercial minimum of 34 inches. They sell each and every one of those fish because they CAN. I've seen the dawn come on the back beach, after a good night with decent fish, only to expose a dozen or more 20-40 pound fish dead as two guys gathered them up for the walk back. Why do you think Block Island was so hot for big fish in the early 80's? Becuase thats all that was left. The commercial fishing made them the last of a dying breed. Commercials would never buy off on a slot, because poundage is where they make their money. How quickly we forget.
The charter boats are just as bad, if not worse. Most go out twice a day, every day and gather a limit of one or two fish depending on location, for every person on board, including the captain and the mate. Thats 12 or 24 fish a day, per boat. How many charter boats are there out there? In some cases, Charter boats have their own regulations. What makes them special? Capt Dave Peros of On The Water magazine has a great editorial on this topic in the current reports section of their website;
http://www.onthewater.com I highly recommend it.