Red tide florida goliath grouper6/18/2023 ![]() ![]() This contradicts multiple dive survey indices (REEF, FMRI’s Great Goliath Grouper Count) that show sustained decreases in abundance, which approach the lows observed in the 1990s. In the May meeting they provided a figure using catch rates (MRIP) that showed decreasing juvenile and adult abundances since 2009, but with a recent increase in 2020. They present no data to support this claim. FWC states that Goliath Grouper are increasing in Florida and that this trend is expected to continue. Yet neither in the draft rule nor in the presentation has FWC offered more data. They asked that staff provide more scientific evidence for the October meeting. Several of the Commissioners at the May meeting on this topic pointed out that data were lacking for them to make a decision about having a fishery. (1) FWC provided no scientific support for opening a fishery at this time. Thus, killing the fish is completely unnecessary. (3) the proposed data gathering by limited-harvest permit holders for juvenile Goliath Grouper will provide no data that would demonstrate recovery of historic age and size classes - key indicators of recovery - and the biological samples that would be collected by permit holders can be obtained using non-lethal methods. ![]() (2) they have considered the anecdotal and scientifically unsubstantiated perception of a subset of stakeholders that Goliath Grouper are invasive and destroying habitat as having more weight than the existing best scientific evidence that clearly demonstrates the opposite and (1) they have provided no scientific support for doing so Augustine, FL.īased on the draft plan for a limited harvest and the draft FWC presentation on the website ( ) at the time of this writing, we hold that FWC has not made a viable case for opening a fishery of any type for Goliath Grouper in large part because: The meeting takes place this morning, October 6th, in St. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation (FWC) staff recommendation to allow a limited harvest of the vulnerable and iconic Atlantic Goliath Grouper ( Epinephelus itajara) (hereafter referred to as Goliath Grouper) in Florida state waters is without merit. ![]()
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