The smallest, the Coney, grows to about a foot and weighs about a pound. The largest grouper, the giant Goliath grouper, can grow to 8 feet long and weigh over 800 pounds. It's a good feeling we share across the community. Here are some facts about this very diverse group of fish: Groupers belong to the Serranidae family, but not all serranids are groupers. For many, she says, spearfishing is a trophy sport, "the opportunity to be able to interact with that animal, and capture and then actually eat and enjoy and share your catch. Emory says it should be up to individuals, not the government, to weigh the health risks of consuming goliaths they catch. ![]() "With these increases we've been seeing in recent years on both natural and artificial reefs, we think it's time to have this conversation," she says.Īnother concern is that goliath groupers have some of the highest mercury levels of any commercially important fish. ![]() Meaghan Emory with the Florida Skin Divers Association points out that fishing is allowed of many other species that have populations well below historical levels. Scientists dispute that and say studies show goliaths mostly eat crabs and some slow-moving bottom dwelling fish. "You can't dive a range finder or a wreck in the bay or a channel marker that hasn't got one, two or three resident giants living there," he told commissioners. Usually shore divers hunt at depths of 525 metres (1682 ft. Shore diving is perhaps the most common form of spearfishing and simply involves entering and exiting the sea from beaches or headlands and hunting around ocean structures, usually reef, but also rocks, kelp or sand. Pete Underwater Club, a spearfishing group, spoke at the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission meeting in May. Spearfisherman hunting Yellowfin tuna in the Ryukyu Islands. They complain that the big fish steal their catch and eat all the other fish on the reef. Goliath groupers have been protected since 1990, after they were nearly wiped out.įor years, recreational fishermen and women, using tackle or spearguns, have pushed to lift the ban on taking goliaths. "And as more and more people got involved in it, I saw those aggregations go down to, in some instances one fish." "They would have maybe in excess of 100 goliaths on them in the spawning season," he says. He's a commercial fisherman who in the 1970s used to spearfish for goliath groupers on reefs in the Gulf. They're joined by other scientists, environmental organizations and dive groups who say the species should continue to be protected.ĭon DeMaria is opposed to lifting the fishing ban. Coleman and Koenig oppose any move to reopen goliath groupers to fishing, even with strict limits. Next month, the commission will vote on a proposal to allow 200 goliaths to be harvested each year with permits awarded through a lottery. "What we see is a population that is just teetering on the edge," Koenig says. ![]() The fish is a 137-pound cubera snapper, caught on June 3. They've spent more than 20 years studying goliath groupers in Florida, Brazil and French Guyana. A spearfisherman has caught what has been described as a potential world record-setting fish in the Gulf of Mexico. Author Interviews Learning Lessons From Inspiration, Despite Complexity, In 'Why Fish Don't Exist'Ĭoleman and Koenig are retired from Florida State University, but they're very much engaged in the discussions being held by Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on whether to allow fishermen to once again begin taking goliath groupers.
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