Renaming isle is new kettle of fish
posted 06/10/01
By HOWARD M. UNGER
howard.unger@herald-trib.com
LONGBOAT KEY -- The fish has been renamed, but what to do with the tiny island that bears its "offensive" former name?
Last month, North America's fish-naming authority rechristened the jewfish as the more politically correct, though still biblical, "goliath grouper."
One of Longboat Key's smallest islands was named for the largest fish in the grouper species. Jewfish Key is an isolated enclave to the south of Longboat Pass, accessible only by boat.
For its part-time residents, though, it's La Lenaire Isle, the official title of its registered subdivision.
One Longboat official doesn't like that name either.
"I'd prefer David Key," said Hal Lenobel, a member of Longboat Key's Town Commission, referencing the Jewish hero of David and Goliath fame. "Should it come up, that would be my suggestion."
Rabbi Michael Eisenstat of Temple Beth Israel would like Jewfish Key, in the back, renamed. When I hear Jewfish, I can only think of it in a negative way, he says.
But since the American Fisheries Society officially renamed the jewfish on May 16, no one has brought the issue to the commission, the body responsible for naming places within the city.
"I would hate to have it brought up," Lenobel said. "You might get residents who don't want to rename the island. It could lead to some contentious feelings."
What do Jewfish islanders think of the idea? The Herald-Tribune couldn't reach any. The key has four homes -- three listed as part-time residences -- and no telephone lines.
There's a public dock, electricity and a road called La Lenaire Lane. There's no running water and no crime.
"I've worked here four years and can't remember sending anyone to Jewfish Key," said Longboat Key police spokesman Steve Decker.
Politically correct name changing is nothing new. In the Dakotas, lawmakers have passed bans on ethnically offensive words like squaw and Negro, forcing the names of towns, streams and gulches to be dropped. In Nebraska, Boys Town is debating whether to call itself Girls and Boys Town.
Why Jewfish Key was named for the fish is unknown, as is the origin of Jewfish Creek, the name of a small waterway near Key Largo.
The origin of the fish's name is unclear, too. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the fish was so clean, it was considered ultra-kosher, the Jewish dietary law.
Webster's Dictionary, however, says jewfish may be derived from giupesce, Italian for "bottom fish." After getting hooked, it's known to drop to the bottom of the water.
Some locals say it evolved from "jawfish" because the goliath grouper, which can weigh up to 700 pounds, has a large mouth.
The leader of Longboat's only synagogue, however, said he always thought it was a derogatory term.
"I had heard that the profile of the fish looked like a stereotypical picture (of a Jew) and took it as a very negative thing," said Rabbi Michael Eisenstat of Temple Beth Israel.
No matter what the origin, the rabbi said, he would like the island renamed. "When I hear 'Jewfish,' I can only think of it in a negative way."
But he said he would leave it to his congregants to lobby the town commission about the issue.
In its report last month, the American Fisheries Society's Names of Fishes Committee said that while no evidence existed that the jewfish's name was being used offensively, "it was deemed offensive to many individuals."
Committee Chairman Joseph Nelson said petitions had been arriving for years, many of them from the Sarasota area. When the group voted on the jewfish, it was only the second time a fish had been renamed. In 1998, the squawfish became the pikeminnow. Native Americans say "squaw" is slang for a woman's genitalia.
"The geographical place-names people will have to deal with the issue themselves," said Nelson, a professor at the University of Alberta.
"But it's the same argument," he said. "If it's offensive for the fish, why wouldn't it be offensive for the island?"
The island's new name doesn't have to be tied to the fish, Nelson said, unless there's a historical link.
"If there isn't, something else might work. Maybe a Native American name or the one that was displaced before it was called Jewfish," he said.
At the Florida Aquarium in Tampa, the sign outside the tank of its 200-plus pound goliath grouper has raised eyebrows with its reference to the outdated name. Although the title on the tank now says "Goliath Grouper," the informational plaque has yet to be changed and still refers to it as a jewfish.
"We've gotten more comments about it now than we did before we changed it," said Jeff Swanagan, executive director of the aquarium, which rescued the grouper from Stuart, where it was trapped in a pipe.
"I'm thinking of doing a name contest now that he's gotten so much attention," he said of the nameless goliath grouper, which has been in the news since the species name was changed.
The aquarium director said renaming Longboat's Jewfish Key would be easier than naming the fish.
"I think Goliath Key would be cool," he said.
... I wish.
