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Originally Posted by Sea Dangles
Who is it that makes these assessments and how much credibility have they proven they deserve.How accurate have stock assessments historically been?
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I know that one way they get a good handle on the population is the "young of the Year" index. They take a net and sweep it through the spawning area and see how many baby bass are in it. In normal years, I believe the number is somewhere in the 3-4 range which many would consider to be a bit too small. That number means 3-4 baby fish within a certain area. In the late 90's or very early 2000's the number went up to the low teens and then a few years later the fishing was as good as it had been in many years. Now, the YOY index numbers are much lower and the fishing is declining too. I wish I had the book I got this from handy so I could be 100% accurate, but I truly believe that this one method is pretty good at letting us know how we are doing in terms of the fishery.
Obviously a catch count would help too which to me is impossible to count considering the recreational fishermen, bycatch and any black market sales. No way to track those numbers of dead/caught fish. All I know is that the MA commercial fleet did not even come close to their quota last year which should be a huge red flag that things are taking a turn for the worse.
Legislation is in the works to lower the amount of fish allowed to be caught to sustain the fishery. Hopefully it happens soon. I think the changes can be made to maintain a good fishery and avoid a massive decline like the 80's.