Quote:
Originally Posted by MAKAI
Check out pages 4 and 5 of attachment 2
Notice a trend ?
Think I better clean up the Big Berthas.
We may have some down time in the near future.
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The way I read these specific exhibits is that "Natural Mortality" (variable M) has dramatically declined since 2004. However, biomass (and abundance) have remained stable over that time period (unless you look at very young year class since "natural mortality" is the only way they die since no one is plugging for fry -- though I've seen JohnnyD try).
However, over that same time period, the 8+ class has declined (despite reduction in "M"). So this raises the question of what's happening to 8 year or older fish. They are not dying naturally (as someone insinuated earlier) since bass live much longer than that AND "M" (natural mortality) is declining. So it would be obvious to suspect that fishing (even by catch) is playing a role.
However, these fish move around a lot and as many of us know they haven't been showing up in the usual places (specifically some inshore areas) in the last few years. Maybe the scientists just aren't finding the bigger fish...I know I'm not
