Save our Jewfish, aka Goliath Grouper news...

[CuzzA]

Here's what it looks like. Granted, the fish was aided by the dive lights, but this is what they do.

Over here our wrecks usually only hold mangrove snapper and bait fish. The jewfish use their camouflage and motionless buoyancy control to ambush fish that get close enough.

Mangrove snapper make a good staple of their diet due to the swarming and erratic swimming patterns leaving many carelessly swimming too close to the groupers mouth.

We rarely see other species like hogfish and other groupers as they are easy picking for jewfish. We have very few lobster here and you'd be hard pressed to find one on a wreck.

Bottom line, they may eat some crustaceans, but their primary diet is other fish. Very little gut content studies have been performed because they are protected. But common sense and logic go along way.

 

[tursiops]

Here's what it looks like.

LOL. I can "prove" nearly anything if I look on YouTube long enough.

 

[scubadada]

I met James Locascio from the Mote Marine Laboratory when I went out to the Castor in Boynton Beach with Scubatyme on September 15 (see post #27). He dived the Castor to replace one of the Goliath Grouper monitoring devices affixed to the wreck. I don' remember if it was the tag tracker or the acoustic receiver.

We had a fascinating conversation on the trip back into the marina regarding the collaborative research regarding Goliath Grouper being done by the Mote Marine Laboratory and others.

 

[CuzzA]

LOL. I can "prove" nearly anything if I look on YouTube long enough.

Hey, I'm just trying to help you "marine scientists" out so you can see what grouper predation looks like. We know they claim they mostly eat lobster and crabs. That is a convenient excuse to provide cover for why artifical wrecks have so little fish biodiversity.

Now do me a favor. In your best marine scientist attempt, argue how those little hermit crabs are sustaining twenty 300 lbs jewfish on a wreck. Say for example the Sheridan off Clearwater or the RJ Thompson off Tarpon Springs. C'mon, do it. I'm about to put another pot on the machine.

 

[greeniguana]

A peer review was conducted of that SEDAR 47 benchmark stock assessment report. There were several "issues" pointed out in it.

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)."

 

[tursiops]

little hermit crabs are sustaining twenty 300 lbs jewfish on a wreck

LOL! YOU are saying this....no one else.

No point in presenting any evidence to you contrary to your beliefs; but science really does not care what you believe. Nor do I.

 

[tursiops]

Update on The Chairman's subversive strategy:
We are a consortium of four SB members who have collected the money for a permit (if issued) and have applied for the permit in the lottery.
Any other such consortia trying to form?

 

[thomschoon]

Update on The Chairman's subversive strategy:
We are a consortium of four SB members who have collected the money for a permit (if issued) and have applied for the permit in the lottery.
Any other such consortia trying to form?

I signed up for both lottery groups as you can only get one permit but gives you a second chance. Would be interesting to have a poll as there may be some others that did it and don’t want to post their intent.

 

[tursiops]

As far as consensus goes, Copernicus.

Have any more recent counter-examples? There is a reason the National Academy of Sciences pubishes consensus reports and not reports by individuals.

 

[Tony Grogan]

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.

CuzzA, the exhibition of your scientific intellect is what is truly embarrassing.

Goliath groupers eat many species of crabs especially the Shamed Face crab which hides under under the sand where you can't see it with your logical eyes. The scientists understand their diet from both stomach content analysis and stable isotope trophic level sampling.

As I said before if you have a fish on a line or spear the Goliath will try to take it but generally they are not fast enough to catch free swimming fish. You might want to watch the video especially where Old Timer Kenny Ruzenas never saw fish like Snapper grouper barracuda inside a Goliath when he was killing thousands of them and gutting them.

I rest my case on Goliath diet which is a fundamental scientific fact you are obviously unwilling to accept out of sheer ignorance.