Gag Grouper of the Gulf of Mexico

Restoring one of the Gulf's Signature Reef Fish

GAG GROUPER

Gag grouper live in and among the rocks, reefs, and ledges of the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Photo: NOAA

Prized by restaurant-goers and recreational anglers alike, the gag grouper is one of the most popular fish of the Florida Gulf coast. Unfortunately, this popularity, mixed with its proclivity for sex changes and a generous dose of poor fishery management, has resulted in a significant threat to gag grouper from overfishing. Despite the challenges, however, it is not too late for us to reverse the trend.

Implementing science-based management tools can restore the Gulf's gag grouper population to health and provide a boost to both our environment and our economy. Ocean Conservancy has played a lead role in building stakeholder and public support for these important tools, and that hard work is beginning to pay off. Gulf fishery managers recently approved a sciencebased plan to end overfishing of gag grouper. Now it is up to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to finalize and implement new management measures on the water.

A (Very) Few Good Men . . .

Gag grouper live among the rocks, reefs, and ledges of the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and play an important role in maintaining ecological balance, but their biology makes them particularly susceptible to overfishing. All gag grouper begin life as females. To reproduce, the largest females in a grouper community change sex to serve as functional males. Perhaps a third of all gags make this shift as they reach sexual maturity at seven to ten years of age. A lone, often aggressive, male then takes charge of a harem of females.

Further compounding the situation, gag grouper spawn in a highly predictable fashion, gathering in great numbers at specific times and places each year. Fishermen naturally target these times and places as excellent fishing holes. And therein lies the problem. Not only are the large (usually male) fish prized for their trophy weight, but scientists say their aggressive, territorial behavior makes them easier to catch. Today, out of every 100 gag groupers, just three are males, down from an estimated 17 in the 1970s.

A Failure of Fishery Management

Scientists recently confirmed the fact that we are catching too many gag grouper. And the gag's vulnerability to fishing pressure has posed challenges that Gulf fishery managers had not dealt with responsibly until recently. In the past, they allowed fishermen to catch far more gag grouper than scientists have said the population could sustain. In 2002, for instance, scientists told Gulf fishery managers that the sustainable catch level for gag was five million pounds, yet managers failed to set science-based limits. As a result, annual landings of gag have since exceeded the recommended five-million-pound target by an average of almost 50 percent.

What Ocean Conservancy Is Doing to Help

Regional fishery councils make the big decisions regarding our nation’s fisheries, and we’ve worked hard to let the Gulf-area council know that better fishery management, guided by science, can end overfishing, protect the vulnerable grouper that gather to spawn, and restore gag grouper to levels that will result in a healthier, more productive ecosystem.

As stewards of our natural resources, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council accepted the responsibility to use sound, science-based catch levels and other conservation measures to benefit ocean environments and the fishing communities they sustain. Fishery managers recently submitted a plan to end overfishing of gag grouper that included the following important elements:

• Science-based catch limits for gag grouper that end overfishing immediately;
• Accountability measures to enforce the scientifically based sustainable catch limits;
• Area closures to protect spawning aggregations (the gathering of large numbers of fish to spawn) and depleted male gag grouper.

What You Can Do to Help

Gag grouper in the Gulf of Mexico (like all marine life) are a public resource and each of us has a say in decisions affecting the future of the species. You can make a difference by telling decision makers it is time to finalize and implement the plan to end overfishing of gag grouper in the Gulf of Mexico. Get involved:

• Join Ocean Conservancy's online community to learn more and stay up-to-date on ocean issues.
• Contact Ocean Conservancy for more information on how to be part of the solution at: 1-877-OUR GULF or bblome@oceanconservancy.org.