I am SOTS: MAKE STRIPED BASS A GAMEFISH! - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

numbskull · 06-19-2010, 08:21 AM

Larry, I believe that the majority of the recreational take is attributed to assumed/estimated catch and release mortality.
That won't change even with a 1 fish limit.

BigFish · 06-19-2010, 08:34 AM

Everyone has their "theories"! If you keep it at 1 fish......then that is ALL they will take.....legally! If you keep it at 2 fish......many will take them both....not all but many! If the limit is one I do not see how you could possibly not see that as making a difference????

numbskull · 06-19-2010, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigFish

Everyone has their "theories"! If you keep it at 1 fish......then that is ALL they will take.....legally! If you keep it at 2 fish......many will take them both....not all but many! If the limit is one I do not see how you could possibly not see that as making a difference????

Of course it makes a difference. But it does not reduce the recreational mortality by 1/2.

BigFish · 06-19-2010, 11:16 AM

Technically....by the take limit.....it does!

Sea Dangles · 06-19-2010, 11:28 AM

How is it possible this can even be a debate?One will REDUCE the rec impact dramatically.Don't forget that boaters also fall into the rec category,and they have an even better opportunity to skirt the regs.

BigFish · 06-19-2010, 01:14 PM

Amen Chris....it really is just that simple!

numbskull · 06-19-2010, 01:32 PM

I understand and agree with your guys point, but I think the actual effect is not as big as you think (although ANY reduction is good by me).

The actual mortality numbers for 2008 estimate 2.2 million fish were kept recreationally, and about 1 million fish (950,000) were released and died. Since many anglers do not catch 2 fish or keep 2 fish (and since the recreational community does not fish to a hard quota determined season), a reduction to a 1 fish limit would not automatically reduce the recreational kept number to 1.1 million. Rather it would probably be more like 1.5 million (a guess). The release mortality would increase a bit (@60,000 fish) since 8% of those extra 700,000 released fish would die.

That means dropping the recreational limit to one fish would reduce the total recreational kill from 3.2 million fish, to 2.5 million......a drop of about 20-25%. To reduce the recreational kill further would require a size limit increase as well.