15 Trout Limit Discussion PUBLIC

[Feesherman]

Originally Posted by MathGeek

Sometimes the best deer management is to harvest more does because the deer are overpopulated and there is simply not enough food to feed all the hungry mouths. Old deer management thinking was to harvest only bucks and leave all the does for the benefit of the herd. When applied to overpopulated situations, this is bad management.

Preserving the trout resource ultimately means preserving the habitat and food sources on which the trout depend. Data shows that the spotted seatrout in Calcasieu estuary are thinner and growing more slowly than they were before the limit change in 2006. The most likely explanation is that there are more trout relative to their available food sources than there used to be. Spotted seatrout in the estuary used to be fatter than the statewide average. After the change in the limits, the data show they are thinner than the Louisiana average.

Some have suggested that greedy/lazy guides may have supported lowering the limits so they would only have to help clients catch 15 trout per day rather than 25 which would take considerably less time and less gas and allow them to fit in more trips in a week.

Since W doesn't have an answer(because he himself turned his opinion into a fact in his mind) I will ask you. Is there any data to suggest that the limit change alone is the driving force behind the thinner, slower growing trout? Is there any data or any study at all on what implications the limit change had on the trout? Has there been any study done on what impact the over fishing of our oysters reefs have had on the trout or are we really just speculating and/or making assumptions?
How do you address the fact that most people don't catch 15 trout much less 25 trout?