Some Say This Goliath Fish, Once Overfished, Is Now a Nuisance
November 25, 2016 – Overfishing in the 1970s and '80s nearly wiped out the enormous Atlantic
goliath grouper from Florida's waters. Today the fish are making a comeback, and their numbers are causing a bit of trouble for some fishermen and boat captains. One documented example shows an opportunistic grouper
stealing a catch from a spear fisherman and then dragging him along. Some are advocating an end to the goliath grouper harvesting ban that has been in place in Florida since 1990.
But are goliath groupers plentiful enough that they should be fished again? While the rebound is encouraging, marine researchers caution that any return to harvesting should be based on scientific evidence and monitored very carefully.
Read more:
800-Pound Groupers Making a Comeback But Not Everyone's Happy
BILL GOULDING, CAPTAIN, KRAKONOON CHARTERS: They’re fish that can range from a tasty, thirty-pounder to something the size of a Volkswagon.
ON-SCREEN TEXT: It has been illegal to harvest a goliath grouper in Florida waters since 1990.
BILL GOULDING, CAPTAIN, KRAKONOON CHARTERS: You’ll see spots where there’s multiples like 14, 15, 20 goliath groupers swimming around. The goliath grouper population is getting out of hand.
ON-SCREEN TEXT:
Name | Atlantic Goliath Grouper
Range | Tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean
ANGELA COLLINS, MARINE FISHERIES BIOLOGIST, FLORIDA SEA GRANT, UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA/IFAS EXTENSION: They were historically overfished. Fishing pressure really peaked in the 1980s and there was a very noted dramatic decline in population numbers especially in Florida so there was an emergency closure in 1990. They responded quite encouragingly to the protective measures.
BILL GOULDING, CAPTAIN, KRAKONOON CHARTERS: Laws were enacted to protect the fish, which I think were good laws. And now 20, 30 years later they’re definitely a nuisance fish. And what they end up doing is, y’know for fishermen trying to bring a fish up, they often end up fighting a goliath grouper who want the same fish that they have.
ANGELA COLLINS, MARINE FISHERIES BIOLOGIST, FLORIDA SEA GRANT, UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA/IFAS EXTENSION: They are opportunistic predators so they do readily and often steal fish that are hooked and being reeled in by anglers. A lot of anglers are concerned that goliath grouper are eating up the grouper and snapper species that we have that are important fisheries species. And the reality of that is that goliath groupers typically lower on the trophic level. They do eat a lot of bait fish and crustaceans. They’ll eat a lot of crabs. They don’t naturally snappers and groupers on their own.
BILL GOULDING, CAPTAIN, KRAKONOON CHARTERS: It’s come to the time we need to start thinking about how do we manage this. Right now I think a lot of guys would like to see some kind of lottery system like for alligators, or moose or elk where you buy into a lottery, you give it a tag, and if your name is chosen it allows you to go out a harvest one of these fish.
ON-SCREEN TEXT: But are goliath groupers plentiful enough to be fished again?
ANGELA COLLINS, MARINE FISHERIES BIOLOGIST, FLORIDA SEA GRANT, UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA/IFAS EXTENSION: The stock assessments that have been performed for goliath grouper have been inconclusive as far as total recovery of the population goes. And the data that we have definitely shows evidence that the population is recovering but to what level is still relatively inconclusive. So if there’s ever going to be any sort of limited take it would need to be managed based on scientific evidence and would have to be monitored very carefully.
