Who thinks.....

[5th Tuition]

Who thinks the YOY index will increase this spring? With the wind and bad weather keeping some anglers at the dock in Virginia Beach, and reports of rockfish staying out beyond the three mile limit, there is a posibility that this might improve the spawning stock. NOW; factor in the new proposed restrictions on PSCR. If the YOY numbers go up, do you think DNR will take credit for it through their restrictions on trollers? Will this result in even more restrictions? Am I paranoid? You won't be the first to tell me so. I keep thinking about my buddy, Rom Emanuel saying, "Never let a crisis go to waste". 5th (Marty)

[Bend-Lure]

Any change in the YOY could be spun into more restrictions. YOY goes up - then restrictions work and we should restrict further. YOY goes down - restrictions weren't broad enough. The problem is that there is absolutely no way to quantify the effects of spring restrictions on YOY index.

[garlien]

You might have a point there...We live in a county that is full of restrictions, permits, fees, etc...The state as a whole is not much better...Guess that is what living in MD is all about...

Wonder how DNR and NOAA would do with thier numbers if the folks that reported the numbers decided to say the hell with it and start to under report...Always gets me ticked...Those two agencies should work together with the commercial and recreational folks to form a relationship not a commander versus servant mentality....That only hurts everyone...I just don't think they will ever get it right, until they build a relationship....Maybe they could join meetings at a bar, talk to folks on docks, board boats to talk instead of write tickets...Those are the types of things that would help develop a "relationship" instead of the forced servitude and fees we all have shoved up our #$@#$@#$@#......

Just my two cents...Sorry...Any mention of how thier "science" works, how they work, etc...just gets me worked up....

Will cross my fingers and hope for the best....

Mike

[mdracer]

In reality the YOY sucess is more about weather conditions then anything else. While it is logical that the more fish that spawn the more fry will be produced there are far more inportant conditions that determine the YOY. For example: the Susquehanna has been historically the scene of the biggest spawns. Well the Susquehanna begins in New York and of course runs through Pa and in reality ends just north of the Bay Bridge. Consequently the amount of snow that melts in New York and Pa. plays a significant part of the freshwater flowing down which in turn can determine part of the spawning process. And then you have water temperature at the time of the spawn. How does this play into egg and fry survival? Don't forget that YOY index is taken well after the eggs have produced the fry which in turn have grown to an inch or two when they do the YOY netting. Alot can happen between spawn time and YOY index time. Remember a single striper can produce litterally a million eggs or more.Ben Florence, a retired DNR fisheries biologist, was in charge of the striper hatchery at Cedarville back when the state was raising stripers for release when times were tough told me that the hatchery was just a drop in the bucket compared what naturally spawning stripers could produce.
In addition, stripers are cannabilistic. Yes they eat their own. This was a problem at the hatchery as they say "only the strong survive". They had to release the fish before they started eating one another. The same thing happens in the wild.

To sum it up, the YOY is based more on the survival rate then the actual number of roe produced. In other words you could have a big spawn in say the Choptank but a negative act of nature could wipe the roe or fry out and give us a lower YOY index. On the flip a river could have fewer fish spawning but conditions remain excellent for survival and the river winds up with a great YOY index. DNR biologists should be able to tell us what the most favorable conditions are in a river for both a successful spawn and survival rate.

DNR cannot control nature but it can control us and that is the path they have taken, right or wrong. Don't take this wrong but maybe DNR is just making some of these rules to satisfy the MId Atlantic Council or whatever it is called. I think the bigger question is how does DNR determine what bay resource we can exploit into extinction (oysters) and which one we can't? Not to start an argument but DNR seems to change the rules to make sure the commercials catch their quota. You know if the hook and liners don't catch their quota they increase the netters quota. This is not conservation. I know that they have done similar changes for us recs by extending the season at times. Again this is not conservation. In both cases it is exploitation. Consequently they have created alot of mistrust among both rec and commercials and it's a shame when we have so little confidence in DNR to do the right thing.