Epic Goliath diving and more deaths +

[guyharrisonphoto]

DD, thanks for posting that email and for the effort you are making to keep the rest of informed as to the research.

I cannot imaging diving without these incredible fish, or of them being so spooked from being hunted that seeing them up close becomes impossible. Nor do I even support hook and line fishing in this special area where they come to spawn.

 

[Deep Down Diver]

Good post Dumpster

what is sad about that reserch?

Is killin hunderds of goliaths for ear bones better???????

 

[danvolker]

There is actually a technique supposedly equal in ability to show age of each fish, that removes such a small piece of fish that it is almost non-invasive....at .east, relative to the current practice.
But, the research scientist in charge does not want to use this.

I do thing the scientist in charge has a good ultimate purpose, but I am guessing he is one of those scientists that thinks that his research is much more important than individual lives.....he see this as statistics. My guess.
I would love to have the discussion in person with him.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I think it is important that people be informed about the research. Just as fisherman are misinformed about the typical diet of GG, I think some of the local divers need to be enlightened about the research.

Fisherman see their fish being taken from their lines and naturally assume that this is representative of the typical GG diet (which it is not). Apparently divers have observed a few GG that appear to have died as a result of the catching and sampling efforts and seem to extrapolate this to a significant mortality (or might even claim that we should have zero tolerance of accidental/incidental mortality).

Isn't it ironic, that some of these same people, think nothing of heading out in a large, fast, diesel powered boat that is pushed through the water by a propellor that is perfectly capable of accidentally killing a manatee or a turtle. If we are going to take a "zero tolerance" stance for accidental mortality associated with our chosen marine activities, then we all better get in shape and start paddling kayaks out there...

Incidentally, anyone reading this post in Florida could also be considered to have some responsibility for the deaths of GG. Do you people have any idea how many large GG were killed in the FPL cooling pond facility in Ft. Pierce last year?? The pictures were obscene, and the deaths were not reported promptly as required and the tons (literally) of dead fish were thrown in dumpsters and discarded and were not made available to be used by the scientists.. A terrible shame...So even flicking a switch in Florida has impacted this species.

I hope this is enough of a reality check to allow reasonable people to put the research into some sort of perspective.

Some of the information posted in this thread is not factual; for example there was mention that a permitted take of 400 GG had been authorized. I would challenge anyone to support that claim with any evidence. I am also unaware of a reliable method to age the fish without sampling of dorsal spines or otoliths (ear bones). Incidentally, I know the scientists would have loved to have applied both methods to all those specimens in the FPL kill that was reported not too long ago.

If people would like to make a positive impact, I think they should keep an eye out for the tagged fish and try to read (and report) any numbers from the tags. Reporting any mortalities, particularly of tagged fish would also be beneficial.

 

[smellzlikefish]

I'm surprised at the reaction here without a comment regarding the efficacy of the original observation. Not to discredit the OP, but the fish weren't described as dead, but their condition was interpreted by a self-described layperson as dying. Fish, and people for that matter, in the act of spawning can get pretty darn tired.

Above that, as a taxa, I've found groupers to be pretty resilient. I watched one scientist place a tank-spawned giant grouper in a freezer to euthanize it for analysis. The fish continued to twitch and leap about for about 4 hours before he felt bad and ended up clubbing it on the head.

From my own background, I do tend to side with science, but it seems to me that a worn out fish for whatever reason could easily appear to be dying.

 

[Murfdizzle21]

so your saying this fish is worn out? it's not dying? I don't think so...

[video=youtube;V5QMVQKOIvQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5QMVQKOIvQ[/video]

The scientists said they caught this one twice in two weeks, can't be good for him...

 

[guyharrisonphoto]

Dumpster,

Thanks for that follow-up post. I have to say I completely agree with you on this one. I think the scientists are doing the best they can not to kill the fish. The ones I have met have a genuine love for these fish, but also recognize they have a responsibility to develop the date necessary for their preservation. I do not like incidental casualties any more than the next person, but I think they are truly minimal.

I was very surprised to hear about the kill-off in Ft. Pierce. I had no idea. Do you know what happened? I do know that the cooling canal is a manatee gathering spot when it is cold, but what caused the fish kill? I guess I can google it . . .

 

[dumpsterDiver]

so your saying this fish is worn out? it's not dying? I don't think so...

[video=youtube;V5QMVQKOIvQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5QMVQKOIvQ[/video]

The scientists said they caught this one twice in two weeks, can't be good for him...

If the question was directed at me, I didn't say ANYTHING about any particular fish. Did you make good use of your time and report the tag number?

 

[Murfdizzle21]

If the question was directed at me, I didn't say ANYTHING about any particular fish. Did you make good use of your time and report the tag number?

No DD it was not directed at you, it was directed at smellzlikefish who was saying they were worn out, which definitely was not the case. We did cut the tags off of the one in the video because we could tell it was not going to make it. Dive master Angie called the numbers and reported it. Here is a thread from a month ago or so about it:http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/fl...oliath-death-scientific-research-jupiter.html

 

[smellzlikefish]

I used to work in the public aquarium industry. Sometimes a disease outbreak or poor shipment would leave the animals looking very similar to the one depicted above. You are right in that sometimes they were damned for the big toilet bowl in the sky (I kid, flushing aquarium fish is very bad practice). However, even in a stressed captive environment where the animals' immune systems are undoubtedly compromised, some of the animals would pull through. While certainly not happy, I wouldn't count the fish in the video as dead yet. As mentioned above, I would report the tag number with symptoms to the researcher.