By Capt. Tris Colket
Many salt water anglers and divers alike are concerned about the plethora of 100 pound to 600 pound goliath grouper now living comfortably on our inshore and offshore reefs. These extremely large and sometimes aggressive fish are suspected of consuming huge numbers of spiny lobsters, smaller grouper, snapper and snook as well as many other fish species on our reefs. Let’s face it, they must eat a lot of something and this is the selection of fish that is available to them.
Protected by National Marine Fisheries Regulations over the past four or five years (maybe more), their numbers have not only rebounded to those of past decades, they have burgeoned out of control. It has reached the point where packs of these giant grouper patrol many reefs off the Treasure Coast and are intimidating divers to the point where they are actually chased out of the water by these so called ‘gentle giants’. If you have ever come face to face with this scenario and heard them bellow their incredible warning signal with their gill plates, you know what I’m talking about. It can be painful and momentarily incapacitating!
Certain fish biologists who study the goliath grouper maintain that the numbers of these fish are still low. They also suggest that they do not eat the food fish on our reefs but feed on smaller crustaceans and worm like creatures on the ocean floor. I find that difficult to believe and have heard personal accounts of goliaths following an angler’s catch to the surface and eating it by their boat. This scenario leads one to wonder how the fish biologists and federal regulators can be so out of touch with the reality that confronts us all.
I am a firm believer in ‘Fisheries Management’. Fish, just like our other natural resources, are not an inexhaustible commodity. There are too many people on this planet for us to be wasteful or imprudent with what we have at hand. Caution is our best friend. However, the pervasive and ubiquitous drone of over-enthusiastic and ill-informed conservationists regarding these environmental pressures on many fish species, and the threat of lawsuits from Audubon, World Wildlife Society, PEW Charitable Trust and others, has regulators at the National Marine Fisheries Service kowtowing to the fish hugger’s every whim. Once regulation is enacted, it has a tendency to stay forever. The powers that be will not let go. Not only goliath grouper but also our red snapper closures are perfect examples of this and a sore subject to fishermen who have first-hand knowledge of the vast stock/biomass of red snapper that is now so abundant on Florida’s East Coast. It’s time to take the National Marine Fisheries Service and its regulatory ‘right arm’, the South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council to task for their failure to rescind regulations that have already served their purpose.
It’s time to open a limited fishery for large goliath grouper. (Our estuaries and inshore reefs are full of juveniles to take their place). Take some of the larger goliaths out of the picture and give other reef dwellers a chance to reproduce before the NMFS and the SAFMC have to shut down all our fisheries due to predation by the ever growing goliath population. And open up red snapper on Florida’s East Coast while they’re at it!
Let your voice be heard if you are concerned about the situation. No one in government is going to take the initiative without some serious prodding. Talk to your friends and talk to your local congressmen and women. Talk to local government and talk to the illustrious people who represent you in Washington, DC. Write letters to them all. Write letters to the editor. Get ‘er done!
Capt. Tris Colket is the owner of Last Mango Sportfishing Charters (www.lastmango-charters.com). Capt. Colket can be reached at fishthemango@gmail.com or (772) 559.0594.
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