Originally posted by NM:
With regard to "overescapement", it apparently did no harm to salmonids for something like 2-3 million years. The overescapement concept is only valid in the MSH worldview -- it's only a "problem" if you equate optimal management success with the maximum number of fish harvested. For wild steelhead that perspective simply doesn't hold up in any economic or scientific assessment I've seen, and I doubt it would hold up to a popular vote of steelhead anglers or the general public.
Lots of spawners is probably a good thing for many reasons. One of the key components of a healthy wild fish population is its diversity, where there are lots of fish using lots of different habitat. As others have noted on this board, diverse habitats force a diversity in the behaviors of salmonids through natural selection. The MSH approach is all about numbers, giving zero regard for how natural variability (in climate, stream and ocean habitat) influences the evolution of diversity in wild animal populations. MSH would be a great idea if it worked, but it simply doesn't account for the complexity of the real world.
AMEN BROTHER AMEN!
_________________________
"Let every angler who loves to fish think what it would mean to him to find the fish were gone." (Zane Grey)
"If you don't kill them, they will spawn." (Carcassman)
The Keen Eye MDLong Live the Kings!
Previous Topic
Index
