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Atlantic Grouper
GOLIATH GROUPER Family: SerranidaeGenus: Epinephelus Species: itajara |
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Taxonomy
The German ichthyologist M.H.C. Lichtenstein described the goliath grouper as Serranus itajara. In an 1884 work, "The fishes of the Florida Keys," David Starr Jordan proposed the inclusion of the goliath grouper in Epinephelus (Bloch 1793) and this combination remains in use today.
Common Names
English language common names include goliath grouper, jewfish, blackbass, esonue grouper, giant seabass, grouper, hamlet, southern jewfish, and spotted jewfish.
Description
Red Grouper: color brownish red; lining of mouth scarlet-orange; blotches on sides in unorganized pattern; second spine of dorsal fin longer than others; pectoral fins longer than pelvic fins; squared off tail; margin of soft dorsal black with white at midfin; black dots around the eyes.
Geographical Distribution
The goliath grouper and red grouper dwell in the western Atlantic Ocean from Florida south to Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.
Habitat
Occurring in shallow, inshore waters to depths of 150 feet (46 m), the goliath grouper prefers areas of rock, coral, and mud bottoms. Strikingly patterned juveniles inhabit mangroves and brackish estuaries, especially near oyster bars. The goliath grouper is notable as one of the few groupers found in brackish waters. This fish is solitary by nature, with the adults occupying limited home ranges.
Commercial Fishing
The Grouper is endanger by the commercial fishing industry and our Florida Legislature.
The Largest Fishery Giveaway In Florida’s History
The Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) are expediting the implementation of an IFQ (Individual Fishing Quota) program for exclusive access privileges for all species of grouper caught in the Gulf of Mexico. The Council’s grouper IFQ program will allocate and grant exclusive right of access to more than 65-percent of Gulf grouper stocks to a limited number of commercial interests.
The NMFS says that an IFQ does not convey title, or ownership of the resource, to commercial interests; however, the commercial harvesters will be allowed to take, sell, lease, broker, and even bequeath their quota shares. While the NMFS says the grouper allocation in the IFQ can be redistributed to other commercial and recreational harvesters in the future; this may never happen after shares have been bought, sold and leased. In the past there has never been a reallocation to an existing IFQ, and the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council has refused to include a provision for future reallocation.
The IFQ debate is not about conservation. It’s about the access to public resources. CCA has challenged the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council and NMFS to prepare an economic impact analysis as required by law. Without information on the direct and indirect economic impacts of allocations and other decisions, the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council cannot proceed to take any action on the proposed IFQ.
Based on information produced by the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council, the total impact of the commercial grouper and tilefish fishery on the Florida economy is approximately $88.2 million. The impact on the recreational red and gag grouper fishery is approximately $119.5 million. However, the recreational value is greatly underestimated. In 2005, a NMFS document estimated income lost from closing recreational grouper take for various months. The total income lost (forgone expenditures from season closures) from just four months was estimated to be $310 million! This is nearly three times the $119.5 million impact submitted in the Council’s recent document. Clearly, the recreational fishery economic impacts are much greater than that of the commercial fishery. So, why does the commercial fishery receive a much greater allocation of the resource?
Establishing IFQs will only benefit large operators in the commercial fishing industry, while the recreational fishery will not be allowed to expand because reallocation of grouper quotas from the IFQ will never occur. In the future, as more people try to fish for grouper the bag limits and seasons will be even more restrictive.
