Golaith Grouper Survey

The Atlantic goliath grouper, is a critically endangered saltwater fish found in shallow tropical waters. Its range includes the Florida Keys, the Caribbean and the Brazilian coast.

By Alastair Daly

The Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (TIDE) annually conducts a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service funded project, to determine the status of critically endangered Goliath grouper populations in Port Honduras Marine Reserve (PHMR).

The mangroves boarding the PHMR provide an ideal nursing ground for juveniles, mature Goliath groupers that can reach up to 2.5m in length and weigh as much as 360kg.

"Because of excessive fishing, the goliath grouper was considered commercially extinct in the US in the 1980s. The outlook was equally deplorable down in the Caribbean. In America, a fishing ban was placed on the species in 1990. The population has slowly rebounded over the past 20+ years in Florida. But across the rest of the Atlantic, numbers are down by as much as 80%" DeMarco Williams