Always be a Striper Supply....???
Mike,.... I sure the access issue was resolved some time ago in favor of Spearfishing being allowed in the American as long as entry is not thru the parkway. It was even covered in reporting by the SacBee.
With respect, I have to disagree with your reasoning in the following statement:
"...there are plenty of large stripers in the Sac. I know a lot of people who fish them and catch big ones around Knights Landing, above the AR. They will likely never be targeted by spearfishers, due to the nature of the water. Therefore there will always be a reservoir of breeding fish." (emphasis added)
I'm fairly sure the idea that the Sacramento River will always provide a reservoir of breeding fish isn't realistic. If it were, there wouldn't be declining populations of Stripers across their range as Sacramento River spawners would always make up for the losses. In terms of overall population, the number of breeders removed from any tributary will contribute to overall decline Stripers but spearfishing in tributaries will surely accelerate that result. There are a lot of reasons why this (overall population decline) is so, not all related to fishing. Population declines seem to be the case for all anadromous/pelagic species in the Delta and it's tributaries.
The life span of a large, spawner is lengthy when compared to those of other fish. There are always more smaller, immature fish than adults. Replacing a spawner takes many years of growth and survival. So, removal of numbers of spawners from a limited area may interrupt spawning for lengthy periods or altogether.
Last edited by Darian; 07-11-2013 at 03:00 PM.
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