Thanks.
I disagree very strongly with your view about striped bass predation. From the studies I've seen, there's about a 2% to 10% smolt survival out of the Miramichi, given that all the striped bass in the Gulf of St. Lawrence spawn there, versus 70% smolt survival out of the rest. These are Atlantic Salmon Federation numbers. Obviously, open ocean mortality is quite high, so I think your dismissing of predation of salmon smolts is unwarranted.
Regarding what happened in 2014, when then minister Keith Ashfield instituted a harvest of striped bass, the department was very much against what Minister Ashfield did. That's based on reports I've seen that said, for instance, “Despite resistance within his department, a limited striped bass fishing season was introduced”.
Given that Minister Ashfield introduced a harvest of striped bass at that time, did that harvest affect the striped bass population?