The FWC is investigating. They can't even agree on what kind of fish it is. The expert says Warsaw, investigator thinks Goliath.
FWC probes possible grouper blooper
Comments 3 | Recommend 0
July 16, 2009 07:45:00 AM
DAVID ADLERSTEIN / Florida Freedom Newspapers
ST. GEORGE ISLAND — Florida wildlife officials are looking into whether there is something fishy about a record-sized grouper caught late last month off St. George Island.
Was it a permissible Warsaw grouper, worthy of bragging rights, or a protected goliath grouper, deserving of a misdemeanor citation, or even a federal charge?
Capt. David Duval, area supervisor of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Northwest Region, confirmed Monday an investigation has begun regarding the fish, landed June 25 off an artificial reef about 15 miles southeast of the island.
Duval said FWC received several calls complaining of the fish’s identity after a photograph of the nearly 7-foot-long leviathan — with a 66-inch waistline and a weight estimated around 440 pounds — appeared in the Apalachicola Times and The News Herald.
If the fish — filleted on the dock of Bay City Lodge and toted back, vacuum-packed, to kitchen tables in Kansas and Alabama — turns out to be a goliath, then it could subject the four men who caught it to second-degree misdemeanors, punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a fine of up to $500.
After their dramatic decline in the 1970s and 1980s, goliath grouper became protected in 1990. State law requires the fish be "immediately returned to the water free, alive and unharmed," although temporary possession for measuring purposes is allowed.
Duval said it also is conceivable the men could be prosecuted for violating the Lacey Act, a federal law which makes it a felony to transport illegally harvested fish across state lines.
Billy Daniels, the Birmingham, Ala., businessman who led the fishing expedition, said he was contacted Tuesday by the FWC, and is cooperating, but declined further comment.
"I think it’s just too early," he said.
Daniels said his son, Shawn Daniels, caught the fish in about 80 feet of water and that the men examined it carefully before determining they could haul it into their 23-foot boat.
"Anybody who can see the carcass can figure it out easily," said Lou Bullock, a fisheries biologist with FWC’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg.
The number and lengths of the spines on the dorsal fin easily distinguish the two species of fish, he said.
"The color looked more like a goliath," Bullock said. "Usually the Warsaw is a more darker gray and this was kind of a yellowish green. The Warsaw has a truncated tail that’s cut straight off, and the goliath a rounded petal-shaped tail. The goliath has real small eyes and the top of its head is kind of flattened."
In addition, the comparatively shallow waters where the fish was caught had Bullock tentatively leaning toward a conclusion of goliath.
But Dr. Christopher C. Koenig, an expert on goliath grouper who teaches at the Florida State University Coastal and Marine Laboratory in St. Teresa, said he has studied the picture and believes the fish was legal.
"If I were to bet, I would bet on a Warsaw, but it’s very unusual to catch them that shallow," he said, noting the fish typically is found on the shelf slope in water 300 to 400 feet deep.
"When I’ve talked to the old-timers, the fishers in the ’30s and ’40s, they said they commonly caught Warsaw in shallow water," Koenig said.
He said that along with definitive proof, an examination of the carcass possibly would yield the fish’s otolith, or ear bone, whose rings would reveal, like the rings of a tree, the age of the fish and its growth patterns.
Because so many Warsaw grouper die, even when released, after being hauled up from deep waters, Koenig said it is more difficult to protect them than it is the goliath.
"An old fat fish is a lot better breeder than a young lean one," he said. "I think it’s a bad idea to take those fish."
Still, he is not prepared to point the finger of blame at the four fishermen.
"My bet would be it is a Warsaw grouper, not a goliath," Koenig said. "I’m 90 percent sure it’ s a Warsaw."
well, at least he isn't gonna get nailed for harvesting a jewfish. they need to open up a season on them anyways. too many of them. so its only a problem if he gets in trouble.
They need to sell a Goliath tag, set a slot limit, say 50 to 200 pounds, or whatever protects the best breeders, and allow folks to catch and keep one or two a year. There are definitely a lot of Goliaths out there. My dad has caught a dozen or so up to 20" off his dock down in Englewood! And we've caught them by the Englewood bridge and near some structure in a channel around one of the mangrove islands. Dad's neighbor caught a 20+ pound goliath off his dock while fishing toward the 776 bridge over Gottfried Creek. With proper limits and guidelines, sportsmen can enjoy catching a huge fish and the state can make some money.
They need to sell a Goliath tag, set a slot limit, say 50 to 200 pounds, or whatever protects the best breeders, and allow folks to catch and keep one or two a year. There are definitely a lot of Goliaths out there. My dad has caught a dozen or so up to 20" off his dock down in Englewood! And we've caught them by the Englewood bridge and near some structure in a channel around one of the mangrove islands. Dad's neighbor caught a 20+ pound goliath off his dock while fishing toward the 776 bridge over Gottfried Creek. With proper limits and guidelines, sportsmen can enjoy catching a huge fish and the state can make some money.
+1 :clap: :clap:
Word is after testing done at a lab that it is indeed a jewfish. Nothing posted online yet, just the rumor going around
