The Ongoing Goliath Grouper Debate

Reel News Casts > 2012

January 18, 2012

For several years now there has been an increasing debate over the question:
Is the Goliath Grouper over populating the reefs or is this species just now beginning to recover?

We attended the 1st seminar of the 2012 Scientific Angler Seminar Series presented by The Collier County Sea Grant Extension Program tonight at the Rookery Bay Environmental Learning Center in Naples. The seminar titled Big Fish Tales: Tagging and Tracking Goliath Grouper in the Gulf of Mexico featured Angela Collins, a marine fisheries research biologist with FWC's Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg. The goal of the seminar is to provide insight into the biology and life history of the Goliath Grouper and for Angela to discuss her work of tagging and tracking the giant Goliath in the Gulf of Mexico off Tampa. There were over 60 people attending and the Marco Island Sportfish Club is sponsoring this 4 part series.

Goliath Grouper on Paddle Wheel Wreck Source: Collier Sea Grant

We attended this meeting to get some insight on why this fish is still highly regulated because on the Gulf of Mexico this species of Grouper is so abundant that it is almost evasive! There is a big controversay that has erupted with anglers complaining that these giants are reducing the populations of sportfish on our reefs due to their voracious feeding habits and destroying the ecosystem of the reefs. Anglers are frustrated when they reel in their catch to have it stolen by yet another hungry Goliath. Once you hook up a giant you have to spend a large amount of energy and time to properly reel it in only to turn around and release this unwanted catch. Anglers want this species population reduced and have suggested opening them up to fishing for a short time annually, possibly in the summer when there are less anglers in the area. Anglers feel someday there will be nothing left but Goliath's on our offshore wrecks and reefs which will definitely have an impact on tourism and the local fishing industry.

How to ID a Goliath:
Look for a circular shaped tail and vertical brown stripes on their sides

To my surprise our governmental organizations that regulate our waters in Florida are very much aware of the population explosion of the Goliath Grouper. They are very proud of their successful eff orts to protect this species but they too are feeling the pressure from anglers and understand the urgency of being proactive in finding a solution. I left this meeting with a better understanding of the issue and agree with the efforts currently being undertaken by our dedicated stewards of the sea.

Current Research

Angela Collins is working full time at the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg studying the Goliath Grouper's populations on 84 sites in a 95 square mile rectangle area, 45 natural reefs and 39 artificial reefs, located offshore of Tampa Bay. They have tagged over 230 Goliath's with ID Tags and have also tagged 38 with Pinning devices that track their every movement. With these pinging devices they track the depth the fish travels and can tell when a fish has been caught and returned to the water. These pingers also track the fish locations which has given them invaluable information as to the movement of this species with the furthest tracked only 19 miles from one shipwreck to another off Tampa. The Goliath during spawning season (Sept - Oct) will go off the radar for a short time migrating to the coastal estuaries and return to the same shipwreck after spawning, so we know they find a home and stay there.

The monitoring has only been active for the past 9 months but what they have learned is the Goliath likes structure with high relief and mostly inhabit our shipwrecks and artificial reefs which have the perfect housing requirements for them. Each site in Tampa houses 4 to 5 large adults and dozens of immature adults over 4 feet in length. The unfortunate situation is that we place these ships as artificial reefs for anglers and divers to enjoy and protected species like the Goliath move in and make themselves at home causing problems for all. Due to the Goliath's slow movement, often called "Couch Potatoes", they are an easy target for spearfishers, it is like fishing in a barrel for spearers. Because they are opportunistic preditors with veracious appetites they jump at the opportunity to steal an anglers catch as it is reeled in. They are very easy to catch and are the most common fish caught on the wrecks they inhabit. Because of their unique behavior the need to protect them exists and will never be eliminated.

The reason Angela Collins is working full time on this study is there is little information on the Goliath Grouper populations before strict regulations were placed, so they can not assess if the Goliath has recovered, and a decision to change current rules cannot be made without a through assessment of the current situation. You can help by reporting to FWC any tagged Goliath you catch, just note the tag number, your location, and return the fish promptly to the water. When you return home give FWC a call with the tag number and location so they can track the fish's movements.

 

Now to answer the question: Are the Goliath are eating all the sportsfish?

Most scientists believe this is not true, the Goliath prefer crustaceans and primarily eat crabs, lobsters, and other slow moving bottom species and occasionally fish. When a Goliath steals an anglers hooked fish it is because they are opportunistic preditors. The fact that the Goliath are abundant on the wrecks does not mean their species has recovered.

Adult Goliath - Live 35+ Years, Grow 7 Feet Long, Weigh Over 800 lbs

Anglers in Southwest Florida believe the Goliath is taking over the 10,000 islands estuaries and the offshore reefs and consider them evasive. There are a lot of very unhappy anglers in this part of the state.

Based on the research I have done to write this article I have learned that the 10,000 Islands are one the largest spawning grounds and nurseries for the Goliath. There are not many areas in South Florida with the perfect habitat and water quality for Goliath's to mature. Since Goliath spend the first 5 or 6 years of their lives in the mangrove estuaries maturing, it is reasonable and expected that the populations of this species will become more common as they recover from the overfishing prior to 1990. Juveniles prior to migrating to offshore reefs will grow to 50 or 60 pounds and be 4 feet in length. Maturing fish of this size consume a large about of food to survive. With their diet concentrated on crustaceans I would assume the crab populations in the 10,000 would be disturbed far sooner than any sportfish as the Goliath populations recover.

In the years before they were almost fished out there would be 100 Goliath on a wreck in Southwest Florida, far less than today's average of 12 per site recorded in Collier County during the 2nd Annual Great Goliath Grouper Count conducted June 2011. More research and fish counts need to be conducted in South Florida to assess their populations before any regulations are changed. Read about how the Great Goliath Grouper Count was conducted and view a nice video showing the Goliath on wrecks off Naples.

Angela's work off Tampa is exciting but many would like to see her work expanded to other areas around the state, especially Southwest Florida. I asked Angela if they could bring their study to Naples and she said without funding it will not happen. Each pinging device they install on a Goliath costs $400 and the receiving units in the thousands. Then there is the cost of manpower to monitor and interpret the data, dive the sites, track the fish, etc. Since the Goliath is a tropical species it makes sense that they would be more abundant in the waters in the southern part of the state. The Tampa area is much cooler and not as optimal an environment for the Goliath to prosper as Southwest Florida is; this species cannot withstand water temperatures below 60 degrees. Angela can only work with the resources available, maybe someday funding can be obtained to bring Angela to the Naples area.

 

How Rules are Made to Regulate Species in Florida Waters

Ethical fishing practices and fisheries management help maintain fish populations. Fisheries management protects and enhances wild populations for the benefit of Florida's residents, visitors, and future generations. The regulations for species, including size and bag limits, are created for the protection of the species to ensure their survival. Creating regulations is not an easy process and there are a lot of agencies involved including federal and state.

Florida Fish and Wildlife's Division of Marine Fisheries Management oversees the regulatory process outlined in the diagram below and performs scientific research to assess fish stocks. They periodically conduct Public Workshops, Advisory Boards and Workgroups where the public can comment on complex marine fisheries issues for potential rulemaking.

Stock Assessments are reports that summarizes the biological condition of a fish stock. They includes a history of the fishery, impacts of management actions over time, age ranges, gender ratios, and predictions for the stock based on current trends. A stock assessment must be conducted before any action can be taken, that is what Angela is doing in Tampa.

Read the FWC article with details on the above Florida Marine Fisheries Management process of assessing fish stocks Introduction to Marine Fisheries Management.

Grouper Fishing Prior to Regulations

"Goliath Grouper, caught on Anna Maria City Pier in the early 1940's by Fabio Gutierrez (pith helmet) & Babe Rodriguez" Source: http://pierjewelry.com/about.php

In the 1980's Florida's population boomed and increasingly became urbanized. Sedimentation depleated the important nursery habitat, water quality deteriorated, and fish were harvested as if the resource was limitless. During this time the Goliath was an increasingly popular sportfish; Angela had photo's of anglers returning with their catch showing a dozen of these giants from one trip! What would an individual do with all that meat and can you imagine how many hours it took to fillet them if they survived the trip to port with little ice to keep them fresh? The larger the Goliath, the tougher the meat; the big ones are not good table fare. The sport of catching these giants in the 1980's was so popular that anglers would catch all they could for Bragging Rights and consequencely destroy the fish because they couldn't handle the massive catches. I read horror stories of anglers just dumping these gentle giants over board, hooks and lines attached, after taking pictures.

Pre-Commercial Extinction Circa 1950s or so. The location is suspected to be Key West. It depicts how big the goliath groupers were in the past, before the massive commercial extinction of the 1980s. Source: http://www.teamorca.org/ cfiles/goliath_popup1.cfm

So in 1990 the government stepped in and banned all fishing of the Goliath once word spread about the slowly decreasing populations. Over the past 22 years the populations have recovered thanks to our stewards of the sea.

I can't help mentioning a story I read recently about a European country that does not regulate their fisheries and an angler visiting Florida told a charter captain that there are no fish in his country, the sport is dead due to over fishing and lack of regulations to protect their stocks. Regulations make sense for Florida, we have an ever growing population of anglers in Florida taking fish year round - can you imagine how little fish we would have if there were no regulations?

For more historical photo's visit this Sun-Sentinel article and see some very big catches of the 1980's before regulations became into effect.

Goliath Grouper Protection History

Image Courtesy of NOAA - Source: http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/gallery/ descript/ goliathgrouper/goliathgrouper.html

Goliath grouper (Serranidae: Epinephelus itajara) occur in tropical and subtropical waters of the U.S., including the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. This species of grouper can grow to over 2.5 meters in length and 400 kg (FAO, 2005), and specimens have been aged up to 37 years (Bullock et al., 1992). Fishing for this species was banned in 1990 in federal waters (GMFMC, 1990) as well as all Florida state waters after a noted dramatic decline in population numbers. The protection of this species was based on minimal data, but that data was convincing because this fish is slow-growing, late to mature, and aggregates to spawn - all factors that increase vulnerability to overfishing (Bullock and Smith, 1991; Bullock et al., 1992; Eklund and Schull, 2001). At least one quarter of all goliath grouper spawning aggregations were believed to be extirpated in 2000 (Musick et al., 2000). In 1994, E. itajara was listed as critically endangered on the IUCN World Conservation Union's Red List of Threatened Species (www.iucnredlist.org). The species has since been protected in Brazil (2002), Puerto Rico (2004) and the US Virgin Islands (2004; NMFS, 2006). However, fisheries remain for goliath grouper in other parts of the Caribbean (i.e. Honduras and Belize), and the status of the species throughout its entire geographic range remains unclear. After nearly 16 years of protection in the United States, a status report showed a significant increase in goliath grouper abundance throughout U.S. waters, and NOAA removed goliath grouper from the species of concern list in February 2006 (NMFS 2006). Goliath grouper remain protected from harvest in U.S. waters at this time due to uncertainty regarding the population within other regions, as well as concerns regarding the species' vulnerability to overfishing. However, increasing reports of goliath grouper sightings have led to a growing public perception that the species is recovered. Spearfishers describe increasing interactions with goliath grouper, and anglers report higher incidences of goliath grouper attacks on hooked fish. Lobster fishers also claim that rising goliath grouper numbers are negatively impacting lobster harvests. These interactions, combined with the delisting of the species, have spurred public interest to reopen the fishery. This paragraph came from the 2010 Report by FWC which details what they are doing to study the issue of altering regulatory guidelines of the Goliath Grouper after receiving so many requests and complaints.

For more information on the Biological Profile of the Goliath Grouper visit Ichthyology at the Florida Museum of Natural History.

The Super Grouper

Here are 2 fantastic videos titled "Super Grouper" documenting the issue and showing what is being done to assess the situation.

Super Grouper Part 1

Super Grouper Part 2

Read Naples News 2009 article "TV documentary tracks big groupers" commenting on the above video's.

Goliath Groupers Spawning

This video was taken off Jupiter and if you don't dive it definitely leaves you feeling as though you did! Be sure to view it in full screen.