Lack of large grouper, barracuda & lobster, in Bonaire?

[Spike_Digger]

I've got another question for the Bonaire regulars (yeah, I'm suffering a case of PBD, and chatting about Bonaire seems to temporarily alleviate some of the symptoms )

One of the things that was most noticeable for me in Bonaire was the lack of big predators like grouper and barracuda. In 20 dives, we saw only 2 big grouper, and one large barracuda (saw a number of smaller ones, but just one big one.) It certainly can't be due to a lack of food for them. What is the explanation for the lack of these big fish? Is it simply that the local fishermen have overharvested the grouper and barracuda? Or do they tend to move to the deeper outer reefs once they reach a certain size, which would explain why we didn't see many?

Also, I was surprised to only see one lobster on the entire trip. In contrast to a place like Cozumel, where you typically see multiple lobsters per dive, I was surprised that they were almost non-existent. Is that also due to overharvesting?

 

[ScubaJW]

Have you night dive? Have you dove @ Cai? Night dive, you will see different things such as possibly a group of barracudas but more likely @ Cai dive site which I have heard.

I heard that Cai is a popular site where you can see sharks, huge group of barracudas, tarpons, and rays. I have not dove it yet and it's on my To-Do list when I go back this summer! :-D

Try Larry's Wildside. They are famous for taking you out to see bigger marine animals on the other side of Bonaire.

 

[Spike_Digger]

Have you night dive? Have you dove @ Cai? Night dive, you will see different things such as possibly a group of barracudas but more likely @ Cai dive site which I have heard.

I heard that Cai is a popular site where you can see sharks, huge group of barracudas, tarpons, and rays. I have not dove it yet and it's on my To-Do list when I go back this summer! :-D

Try Larry's Wildside. They are famous for taking you out to see bigger marine animals on the other side of Bonaire.

The real question that I have is why don't we see the bigger marine animals on the leeward side of the island? If they are present on the windward side and not the leeward side, is that because there are less fishermen on the windward side? Or is there something about the reefs on the leeward side that isn't conducive to large marine animals living there?

 

[Bosun]

They were planning to have no take zones to improve the numbers.

 

[pword]

Even though Bonaire is a marine park they allow fishing and sadly lobsters are not protected at all, as I was told by a local.

 

[Jetwrench]

My experience (6 trips) is the leeward side usually has smaller fish life. Although you may see a few during the day, night dives are better for finding larger creatures. On the east side everything seems bigger. Cuda, grouper, turtles, tarpon, lobster are all much bigger and more frequent.

 

[tvictory]

I've got another question for the Bonaire regulars (yeah, I'm suffering a case of PBD, and chatting about Bonaire seems to temporarily alleviate some of the symptoms )

One of the things that was most noticeable for me in Bonaire was the lack of big predators like grouper and barracuda. In 20 dives, we saw only 2 big grouper, and one large barracuda (saw a number of smaller ones, but just one big one.) It certainly can't be due to a lack of food for them. What is the explanation for the lack of these big fish? Is it simply that the local fishermen have overharvested the grouper and barracuda? Or do they tend to move to the deeper outer reefs once they reach a certain size, which would explain why we didn't see many?

Also, I was surprised to only see one lobster on the entire trip. In contrast to a place like Cozumel, where you typically see multiple lobsters per dive, I was surprised that they were almost non-existent. Is that also due to overharvesting?

I was there last week and saw only one Nassau grouper the whole trip. It was on my 24th and final dive of the week, at 100' fsw on Calabas Reef in front of the Divi. I saw no lobsters but others said they did. Large tarpons, sometimes in groups, were relatively common.

 

[Warmwater Wank]

We've noticed the same thing about larger predators (which indeed are a bit more evident at night). Spike Diggers initial comment though, "it can't be due to a lack of food for them", got sort of lost in the thread. The overall reef populations of Bonaire are very impressive. You may catch yourself thinking "Hey yeah, I haven't seen a lobster yet." but it's a fleeting thought, chased on by the variety and volume of what you do see on the reefs. Darn it, I feel another onset coming. "Nurse Liz, we're losing the patient. Give him 500cc of Amstel Bright, then get him back to Karpata, stat!" //ww