Save our Jewfish, aka Goliath Grouper news...

[Tony Grogan]

And the entire undeveloped nature coast with very limited access. The ultimate nursery for countless species given pristine condition and skinny water. Miles and miles of mangrove shoreline, grass flats, and natural reef. This is a huge area of the Gulf Coast. Tampa Bay is another huge estuary. They haven't even scratched the surface of studying the Gulf. It also explains why I could put a diver on a jewfish anywhere on a whim, be it natural ledge or wreck.

Like I said earlier. The Gulf is exponentially larger than South Florida. That fact is constantly ignored.

Another irrelevant point CuzzA. The purpose of the Chairman's thread is to take commissioner Nicklaus up on his suggestion that Goliath grouper supporters purchase permits.

Doing so should be done in full compliance with the rules such that Resident fishermen are charged $150 if they win the lottery and decide whether they want to catch a juvenile Goliath.

Your point about the Gulf of Mexico being large is irrelevant because we all know that it is large. The primary area where juvenile goliath groupers are caught is in the Keys and in Southwest Florida along with various other locations around the state.

The scientists who are studying Goliath Groupers are definitely considering the size of the Gulf of Mexico and factoring that into their studies.

 

[aue-mike]

I was referring to the other guy, not you. He came across as a little pompous.

I was simply being factual. It is not listed as endangered, nor threatened, under the Endangered Species Act.

 

[aue-mike]

That is correct. they are one IUCN category below "Endangered," i.e. "Vulnerable."

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

Established in 1964, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species has evolved to become the world’s most comprehensive information source on the global conservation status of animal, fungi and plant species.

www.iucnredlist.org

They are also listed as "population decreasing."

"This species has undergone a severe population decline throughout its entire range and is now rare where it was formerly abundant due to overfishing (Sadovy and Eklund 1999). In most areas, there has been no indication of population recovery. Unfortunately, there are very few historical data sets that are available to gauge population sizes prior to widespread exploitation (beginning around the 1950s) to serve as a reference for the degree of decline in population sizes. As of the writing of this assessment, the southeastern U.S. is the only area in which an appreciable increase in the population of this species has occurred, this following a moratorium on catch in 1990 (Figure 1 in the Supplementary Information). This is also the only area where reasonably accurate historical landings and effort data are available, and the only area in which a quantitative stock assessment analysis has been completed (SEDAR 47 2016). Even though official historical quantitative records are poor to non-existent, it is clear from well-documented anecdotal observations that a rapid decline occurred over at least the past 50 years as fishing intensity increased and as mangroves declined over the 1970s to 1990s. Therefore, this species is suspected to have declined on a global-level by at least 30% or more since the early 1950s, which covers a time period of about three generation lengths (at least 64.5 years)."

I am well aware of IUCN classifications...and the fact we (i.e., US) do not manage species via IUCN's classifications.

 

[100days-a-year]

Arguing marine biology with a marine biologist, precious.

Using the classic "appeal to authority " logical fallacy, priceless.

Basing management practices on a species found in 8 states covering 10s of thousands of square miles using a couple of hundred square miles of sporadic coverage done largely by laypersons, preposterous.
Kudos to Pete for truthfully stating his decision was largely emotional.

 

[The Chairman]

It's the equivalent of arguing against a deer season because Key Deer are threatened and there's no deer hunting allowed in the Keys.

Why would you want to hunt Key Deer? Their protection has no effect on the other species of deer in the state. Let them be!

 

[CuzzA]

Why would you want to hunt Key Deer? Their protection has no effect on the other species of deer in the state. Let them be!

To make a stock for marinating manatee kabobs.

 

[Vicko]

Having 60 apex predators on a 20m long wreck is insane, of course they will migrate. Blaming that migration, or to be fair mortality, on a very limited slot based cull of juvenile specimens is intellectually dishonest at best.
Does anyone tag and monitor the groupers?

To make a stock for marinating manatee kabobs.

Are you the guy behind the Manatee hunting excursions? Can you hook me up?

 

[The Chairman]

Having 60 apex predators on a 20m long wreck is insane,

I've seen hundreds of hammerheads group together. I seen the same with sliders in a spring. Such gatherings are an awesome part of nature and not insane. There are plenty of other fish out there to catch and eat.

 

[Tony Grogan]

Having 60 apex predators on a 20m long wreck is insane, of course they will migrate. Blaming that migration, or to be fair mortality, on a very limited slot based cull of juvenile specimens is intellectually dishonest at best.
Does anyone tag and monitor the groupers?

Are you the guy behind the Manatee hunting excursions? Can you hook me up?

They're not Apex predators. Goliath groupers are low in the food web as their normal diet is crabs and slow moving species. It is a major Fisherman's fallacy that Goliath are eating everything on the reef. The science has proven this extensively. They are opportunistic in that they will eat a fish that is Tethered to a fishing line or a spear. Watch the video that the chairman first posted and learn about the truth of Goliath groupers.

 

[CuzzA]

Haha. Riiight. One wreck has enough crabs to support 20 jewfish.

Nonsense. Again, logic out the window. You're just parroting and not thinking about what you're saying. It's embarrassing. They ain't hogfish rummaging the bottom, crushing and eating hermits and cerith snails.

They eat anything that gets close to their mouth. Like all grouper species they use the vacuum technique. If it looks like food and it fits, it goes down the hatch.