Save our Jewfish, aka Goliath Grouper news...

[The Chairman]

I cannot find in the FWC documents

Goliath

Goliath

myfwc.com

24" to 36" is the slot limit.

 

[CuzzA]

BTW, those slot sized juveniles aren't on the big dive wrecks everyone visits and where Mote claimed they did their survery. This is why we can very easily identify their reporting was intentionally misleading to ignorant readers and likely designed for social media distribution.

Juvenile jewfish are found in shoreline mangroves, estuaries and around bridges and jetties. They are very susceptible to predation to sharks at that size and need the cover of the shoreline. They are a slow swimming fish.

 

[scrane]

I eat fish from the grocery store, but each time I see a big, beautiful fish I think to myself: "I'm glad nobody had caught or shot it". I know this is hypocritical, but it seems Hypocrisy is always in season.

 

[dlofting]

Do the regs in Florida require barbless hooks? Just asking because they make it easier to release fish whose size falls outside the permit limits.

 

[NickHH]

I eat fish from the grocery store, but each time I see a big, beautiful fish I think to myself: "I'm glad nobody had caught or shot it". I know this is hypocritical, but it seems Hypocrisy is always in season.

I don't think anyone will really judge you for it. Obviously most fish from the grocery store is farmed. Dive travel to places with big beautiful fish, often means travel to places with delicious seafood. Personally, I no longer eat any kind of seafood since I started diving. Farmed or not, seeing the ocean in a different way, along with seeing the Chinese fishing fleets first hand has been an easy reason for change in diet.

 

[The Chairman]

I don't think anyone will really judge you for it.

I mostly eat locally caught or farmed seafood. That would include my own catch. I will not eat Jewfish.

 

[CuzzA]

Do the regs in Florida require barbless hooks? Just asking because they make it easier to release fish whose size falls outside the permit limits.

No, but J hooks are not allowed. Only circle hooks. This avoids gut hooking fish which increases mortality.

Hooks aren't too much of a concern. They rust out really fast in saltwater, even if they're stainless steel since SS needs exposure to oxygen from air to maintain its protective layer.

Nearly all billfish and sharks are released by just cutting the leader line.

 

[Tony Grogan]

Hey Tony, from your link you posted on your SpearBoard website and again here.

The goliath grouper, a colossus of a fish that can weigh up to 360 kilograms (nearly 800 pounds), is the delight of divers in Florida, though scientists warn their numbers are down since the US state allowed fishing of the giants to resume.​

This is a flat out lie. Florida has not resumed fishing of Goliath Grouper causing a supposed decline in Goliath Grouper populations.

Please stop posting misinformation and claiming there's no bias and that it's "science."

During the first 2023 season only 26 slot fish (24-36") were harvested out of the 200 allowable lottery permits across the entire state except for South Florida where it is not allowed. That publication should be ashamed of themselves for spreading lies and people really should verify what they share on the internet.... unless you're doing it intentionally. If the later, carry on and hopefully people like myself will keep correcting you.

You're reading comprehension is challenged CuzzA. The nonscientist author of the article explained a decline is happening at the same time as FWC is opening up fishing. It did not say there was a cause and effect.

The REEF organization has been documenting this for quite a while as shown by the attached chart showing the decline in population over Decades of REEF counting Data.

On top of this, the scientisIs I volunteer with and the divers at the variou spawning aggregation sites are reporting declines in spawning counts from these fish which have high site fidelity where they return to the same sign year after year to spawn. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure if there is a decline in spawning numbers whatever the reason, there will be a decline in spawned juvenile fish inevitably.

 

[sharkbear]

Bump

I'm out of state, but would help as well. I can contribute the same amount.

 

[tursiops]

I'm out of state, but would help as well. I can contribute the same amount.

Terrific! We need one more person to contribute and a volunteer permit-getter.