Posted by mike on December 09, 2000 at 23:05:05:
In Reply to: A thought on hunting posted by brianc on December 07, 2000 at 11:45:59:
one other problem: going for big trophies exerts selection pressures for smaller individuals. These big lunkers may get big by some virtue of their genetic makeup, rather than just favorable environmental conditions. By relentlessly pursuing the biggest of a species, we may be relentlessly weeding out the very genes that give rise to such impressive size. i do not have any idea of how long it would be before such changes in the gene pool of say, white or black sea bass would take to manifest themselves, but i am thinking decades to centuries: well within the limits of recent history and our great grandchildren.