[Coral-List] 2. Proposed Killing of Goliath Grouper (Sarah Frias-Torres)

[Alina Szmant]

I am so disheartened reading posts in this thread from some people who appear to think that re-instating fishing (killing) of these fishes is OK. There is NO OK REASON to resume fishing a species that used to be so abundant all over the Keys just because now there are a few of them here and there. If you go to the bar in Key Largo near Ocean Divers (I can't remember its name) there are photos from back in early 1930s when the railway workers fished for these animals, and they are standing there with dozens of 6+ ft fishes. While I am not so unrealistic to think that recovery goals for any species means that population size and characteristics will return to what they were before humans starting decimating other species for our own convenience, still.... until you can find a Goliath grouper under every bridge in the keys, in every stand of mangrove, on every coral reef large and small throughout the Caribbean, then the species is nowhere near recovered and should be left alone.

I agree with statements that the recreational fishing lobby in the Florida Keys is very well funded and powerful. It is obvious that the FWCC has been pressured to re-open the fishery to a few lucky manly fishermen who can then brag to his friends about catching a Goliath grouper. I agree with Les Kaufman's post that "2. The justifications for killing goliath grouper are cool factor, they are really big, manliness, and if you don’t someone else will.  Everybody knows that.". 

And that is the problem: you open the fishery to only 200 fish of a certain size and before you know it 400 fish or more of all sizes will have been killed. Look at what happened in Wisconsin when they re-opened the wolf hunt this past spring. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/11/us/wisconsin-wolves-hunting-kill.html. They were allowing 119 wolves to be hunted and in less than 60 hours over 219 wolves were killed. This August, the hunters and wolf haters pressured the Wisconsin commission to again re-open the hunt and increase the number of wolves to be caught this fall to 300 against the objection of their own wildlife biologists! https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/hunt/wolf/index.html. It won't be long before there are no wolves left in Wisconsin.... again!

The same will happen to Goliath groupers if they re-open the fishery. While not all humans are selfish and feel they have the right to take whatever they want, there are too many of us who will do exactly that and take whatever they want whenever they want. If you don't believe me, consider how many people run red lights and stop signs and speed way over the speed limit. There's no difference between the attitude people have with traffic rules and fishing / hunting rules. Endangered species management is all about controlling the worst instincts of the people who feel entitled and don't care about others.




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-----Original Message-----
From: Coral-List <coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> On Behalf Of David Blakeway via Coral-List
Sent: Saturday, September 25, 2021 7:26 PM
To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
Subject: Re: [Coral-List] 2. Proposed Killing of Goliath Grouper (Sarah Frias-Torres)

Here's the meeting agenda item below (from Sarah's link). It's all about allowing fishing. Judging by the wording of their agenda item, FWCC supports the proposal. I am guessing Florida's recreational fishing lobby is politically powerful, and FWCC is throwing them a bone.
Note the great phrasing! e.g. "The proposed limited harvest would allow users additional access opportunities to this species", which I believe translates to "The proposed limited harvest would allow fishers to kill this species"
Aside: FWCC is an acronym for the Florida Fish & Wildlife *CONSERVATION * Commission

Item Requiring Action – Draft Rule – Goliath Grouper Staff will present a draft rule proposal for a limited, highly regulated harvest of goliath grouper. This proposal includes a special opportunity for harvest through a lottery draw, while enacting area and seasonal closures, size and gear restrictions, and post-harvest requirements. The proposed limited harvest would allow users additional access opportunities to this species and provide researchers with needed biological data, while allowing the population to continue to rebuild and excluding harvest from areas of heavy dive ecotourism. *Public comment on this agenda item will be limited to no more than 2 hours.* _______________________________________________
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