I don't know the answer to that, but I do know I'm seeing lots of guys, alot of em younger, who did good to catch a handful at Grenada, some with just a couple year's experience being the captain of their own crappie rig, going out day after day and absolutely mopping up with their livescope. And ain't nothing going back in the water, either - big pregnant female or not. If you took that livescope off that boat they'd be back to square 1 being solidly middle of the pack to below average catch rates. That's just the cold hard truth: fishing prowess used to come through years of learning. You can look at who's winning bassmaster tourneys nowadays (alot of rookies and newcomers) for proof of that, let alone everyone's anecdotal experiences on the water.

I'm no fisheries biologist, but once prices come down, which they inevitably will do (and are doing so now), and more and more people learn the livescope technique, if the results are the same as the example above for even a fraction of the people using it, I don't see how it couldn't have at least SOME effect on the fishery.

Call me old school, but it is perplexing to rack up decades of experience and knowledge and get absolutely waxed by a verifiable newby day in and day out who you would otherwise outfish 9 times out of 10.

That said, I'm getting ready to drop some coin on ffs. Fishing is too expensive and time too precious to not maximize returns on time invested. If it's legal and it's effective, I will partake.