The much-anticipated stock assessment.....

[numbskull]

Originally Posted by MakoMike

Problem is that everyone is viewing this from a micro point of view. The YOY has nothing to do with the stock assessment/required actions. Those fish are too small to be counted as SSB.

Get serious. Obviously this year's YOY has nothing to do with current female spawning stock. Just as obviously the YOY has EVERYTHING to do with future spawning stock. Also obvious is that the current spawning stock is disappearing fast by the ASMFC's own numbers. Without this good YOY index there would be nothing in the pipeline to replace them and fishery managers would have to take steps to slow the decline or the fishery would meet the level to shut down in several years (go look at the slope of the ASMFC's spawning stock curve). With this fortunate good YOY number, they can easily calculate that in several years a large number of female bass will enter the spawning stock. Hence the current fish become expendable and the ASMFC is going to see to it that they get expended.

Without the good YOY index, striped bass regulations would have changed this year. With it the pressure is off so nothing changes. It is easy for ASMFC members to vote to continue to fish at current levels when the see big numbers of fish in the pipeline, even if that vote means some very lean years for quality fish in the near future.