Quote:
Originally Posted by Adam_777
I call BS on this.
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I beg to differ. The YOY sampling has been carried out for over 50 years and has proven to be a good predictive tool with regard to future fish availability. I'm sure it has faults if you examine it closely, but its been "wrong" in the same manner for 50 plus years. This means the data collection process may be imperfect, but if its carried out in the same manner each year its ability to identify future trends will prove reliable.
Many may not know this, but the striped bass fishery was rebuilt on the back of the 1982 year class of fish, which had a YOY index of about 8 or so. This year class is likely accounting for the recent spike in record class fish we have available seeing they're close to 30 years old..
What happens after these yearling fish become angling and food targets is another story.
Are the fish in trouble? Not yet in my opinion, but they will be very soon if some curbs aren't put in place to help restore some balance.