Again, RITA is probably the MOST important influence here. You give those numbers to any statistician, ecologist, biologist, in the world, and show them those very numbers. They will look at them and see that 'something' seems to be happening without even knowing where Big Lake is and could not point out Big Lake on a map of Louisiana. Well, if you give them a little more information such as:
1. the limit was dropped from 25 to 15 during this time
2. a guy fishes the lake a lot and said its because the weirs are blocking off one little bayou into the marsh (that supposedly feed that entire lake even though the entire west side of the lake is marsh)
3. Obama got in office in 2008
4. Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011
5.
A freaking Category 4? hurricane came right thru this area in 2005 and completely destroyed and transformed this area and has taken its toll
6. BP Oil spill in 2010
7. A guide that fishes here a lot says their isn't as much pressure on the lake, yet there are twice as many guides on the lake now
Seems pretty obvious to me?
One more thing to add:
People always look for just one answer to a complicated problem, sometimes there isn't just one thing, its a combination of many factors. Maybe the STAR shows the biggest fish caught has gone down, but maybe overall the average weight of the average fish caught has gone up? This can be debated over and over and will never be settled. Just look at duck hunting in the last few years - some people have had the best seasons of their lives recently, whereas others are having terrible seasons, and those people will try and put blame on one particular thing whereas its many things working together.