This is all very interesting and we can debate these nuances until the cows come home (pun intended
) but IMO, due to the unknowns of nature we should just protect the entire species and stop pretending how smart we all are and say we can protect the species by saving a subset of the fish. Face it fishery management results have not been that great in recent decades.
What has worked is total protection...on the west coast 450 stripers were transplanted in 1880-something. They established themselves and eventually they had a commercial harvest of over a 1 million #, then, the population declined due to overfishing. It was then made a game fish and there are now plenty of bass...The West Coast range of the species is now from Los Angeles north to the Columbia River...all from 450 original fish.
This does not require a lot of expensive science..and it certainly does not require management decisions based on user groups and POLITICS!....all it requires is common sense.
Make it a game fish, allow 1 fish bag limit any size. Then go focus on its food supply.
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