over 100 pounds off the jetties using live jacks. They’re all over Bethel Shoals, about 18 miles southeast of here, and there are lots more on the wrecks off Port Canaveral. I’ve lost permit to goliaths on the Eagle wreck down in the Keys and have a buddy in Stuart who can only boat three out of every 10 snook hooked, because the goliaths steal them on the way up. There are certainly more out there than we need to worry about, that’s for sure. So I’d definitely be in favor of a permit system like the $50 tarpon tag to keep one.” So will Clymer, Austin and others
get their wish? It is a possibility. It all depends on the next few months and how the numbers add up. A 2010 stock assessment of goliath grouper was judged inconclusive because of miss- ing data. A subsequent ad hoc steering committee with representatives from the Gulf and South Atlantic Fishery
Management Councils, NOAA Fish - eries and Florida FWC was formed. A survey of stakeholders will be conduct- ed in January 2013, with a scientific workshop the following month. Public workshops and briefings will be held through June. “It definitely seems like the stocks
are rebuilding,” says Jessica McCawley, director of Florida’s Division of Marine Fisheries Manage ment and a steering committee member. “There are some data segments missing, though. For example, we still don’t know the maxi- mum age for goliaths. We also need to develop new models. We have to figure out one that works for a species that has been under moratorium for so long.” Once all these steps are completed,
managers will look at various options including the status quo (continue the harvest ban) or re-opening the fishery with various stipulations. McCawley says her office has received lots of sug-
gestions already based on anecdotal reports goliaths have recovered. “We’ve heard yes on spearfishing,
no on spearfishing, hook-and-line only, tag programs, slot sizes and a possible commercial harvest. You name it, we’ve heard it,” she says. “It all depends on how the fish are actually doing and we should know that in the next few months.” So, depending on a number of fac- tors, the next chapter in the long-run- ning story of Davids and Goliaths may be written in the very near future.
Captain Dave Lear is an award-win-
ning freelance writer and photographer who has covered marine fisheries issues for more than 20 years. His byline appears reg- ularly in TIDE, as well as other national fishing and boating titles. Lear is also a retired flats guide who now spends his free time exploring Florida’s Big Bend coastal waters.
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