Florida goliath grouper action

A couple pics from yesterday's dive off Boynton Beach, Florida, on the tail end of the goliath grouper spawning aggregations...

And a video clip from last week's dives off Jupiter, Florida, for more aggregation and bait ball action...

Cheers,

Mike

The pics are cool... How large was the grouper next to the wreck?

I could not see the clip...not sure if it is my phone or the link....

Average fish are probably 200 pounders, with some ranging up to 400 pounds.

Here is a link to video from yesterday's dive:

Cheers,

Mike

Beautiful videos !! Are the groupers protected as ours in the French part of the Méditerranéan sea ??

Beautiful videos !! Are the groupers protected as ours in the French part of the Méditerranéan sea ??

Harvest and possession of goliath grouper has been prohibited since the early to mid 1990s over here, and they have made a remarkable comeback...

Cheers,

Mike

Hello Mike,

Nice video and always good to see you diving in the area. For a fish that is protected in the US I sure did see a lot of Goliath's on my Tuesday dive on the Castor that had been hooked by fishermen.

Phil Rudin

Hello Mike,

 

Nice video and always good to see you diving in the area. For a fish that is protected in the US I sure did see a lot of Goliath's on my Tuesday dive on the Castor that had been hooked by fishermen.

 

Phil Rudin

Hi Phil-

It is not uncommon to see hooked fish as they are large fish that have the ability to take a bait (depending on the size) like other fish. Since they are the big boys on the block and opportunistic feeders, they commonly go after hooked fish as they are reeled to the surface, sometimes becoming hooked themselves. And there is also ongoing research (permitted activities) where fish are hooked, brought onboard a vessel, and biological samples are taken, fish are tagged, etc. The important point is that this shallow-water grouper species is robust enough to take it and either part a line on the wreck or bottom or unhooked or line cut at the surface by the angler, and have a very high survival rate. The protection prevents hooked fish from being retained, fileted, sold, etc. Obviously, given the population rebound, the protection has been very effective.

Cheers,

Mike

Beautiful!