Quote:
Originally Posted by Ray
We have less Drum than Reds in Big Lake. Cause cents the last couple years, Drum have become our new Trophy Fish. So many more people are targeting them.
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There are probably fewer drum because of a combination of starving to death and migrating elsewhere to find food. Drum need several oysters each day to maintain body condition. According to my son's background work, most fish are in danger of dying when their body condition drops below 80% of the expected weight, and a lot of the drum he measured from Calcasieu had body condition between 80% and 90%. (Red Xs in the above graph.)
It is a paradox that the best thing to do for a species in decline is to harvest more of them, but it's a common situation in wildlife management. If there are too many deer relative to the available forage, the best solution is for hunters to harvest the surplus above what can be sustained on the available forage. Protecting their food source is key in protecting any species of wildlife. The oysters need to be protected until their numbers return to sustainable levels, and an important part of protecting the oysters is reducing the numbers of their primary prey species, which is black drum.