“Stansel said his club fishes about 10 boats per day, each with a guide and one to three anglers. They can expand to 20 boats if necessary. Their boats catch a three-person limit of 75 trout about three to five percent of the time or less.”
10 boats with an average of 3 people, 5% of the time catch 75 fishes, therefore .5 boats per per day (5% * 10=.5), on average catch an extra 30 fish or (.5 boats per day *30 fish)=15 fish were caught per day “extra” under the old limit vs. new limit for this one outfitter.
Assuming this outfitter fishes 10 months of the year, that is roughly 300 days of fishing at 15 fish extra fish per day * 300 days = 4,500 fish per year. Therefore, assuming my above assumptions are correct, this outfitter is harvesting 4,500 fewer fish per year under the new system. Now, the other question is how many other guide boats are doing the same, add those figures up and then add it to the recreational fishers and to the peeps like “w” who are more consistent and you would have quite a big number, under my assumptions. Then, if we assume it is a fact that fewer larger fish are being caught under the “new system”, I would think commons since would tell you that “W” theory is correct, being the system is over populated with small trout, competing for the same food source that has stayed constant over the last 5 years, i.e there are more trout and the same amount of bait, therefore, more competition for food and the big trout are not offered the opportunity reach full growth potential. These are just my 2 since, and I have enjoyed the tread!
Math Geek, you can check my numbers and let me know if I am off.
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