Jew Fish.....

[ReefGuy]

I wouldn't go that far yet. There's a major fight brewing with the FRA leading the way with support from the FWC. Lack of orginization has put recreational fishermen behind, but the FRA is addressing that. Quite well so far. There's going to be a meeting in Ft. Myers this wednesday, and the FRA will be there in force. I hope to be there as well (not that I'm anything special).

There's a proposed grouper closure in the gulf for Nov and Dec, as well as a limit reduction to 3 aggregate/1 red, but it's not going to be an easy sell.

Agree completely. Its one of the fallacies of bag and size limits. It looks like all other groupers are about to be taken off limits as well. The way things are going, spearfishermen are going to be out of business inspite of the fact that they have the least impact on the species of any other take method.

I went bottom fishing the other day on a charter boat, and we killed litterally dozens of fish. The ones that were able to make it back down after being pulled up from 150 fsw, were eaten on the way back down by the dolphins and the bull sharks. In our neck of the woods, the sound of a diesel engine is the dinner bell for dolphins and sharks. I watched a 8 foot bull causally swim up and swallow whole a 12 inch grouper that was thrown back. As soon as you stop the boat and make a drop, the dolphin will actually swim up and start slapping the water with their tails to call all their cousins. If you stay at the spot for more than a few minutes, you are soon surrounded by dolphin and sharks just waiting for the "shorts."

In other words, the bag and size limits make little difference to the populations of snapper and grouper, and spearfishermen never do this much damage to the species.

 

[Florabama]

I wouldn't go that far yet. There's a major fight brewing with the FRA leading the way with support from the FWC. Lack of orginization has put recreational fishermen behind, but the FRA is addressing that. Quite well so far. There's going to be a meeting in Ft. Myers this wednesday, and the FRA will be there in force. I hope to be there as well (not that I'm anything special).

There's a proposed grouper closure in the gulf for Nov and Dec, as well as a limit reduction to 3 aggregate/1 red, but it's not going to be an easy sell.

Unfortunately, spearfishermen are on the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to political power. The commercial guys are at the top of the heap, the hook and line guys come next and spearfishermen get the shaft (pun intended ).

Remember when the hook and line guys like Florida Sportsman Magazine tried to keep divers out of the Dry Tortugus even though line fishermen were allowed to fish there?

 

[ReefGuy]

Yes, but Senator Martinez now appears to be supporting the recreational side of the board. Yesterday, he called for a delay on the new grouper restrictions, due to the economic affect on the state.

Recreational fishing, as a whole, has been on the bottom of the heap, because commercial fishermen are organized. Now recreational fishermen are getting there too, including spearfishermen. It's not going to be an easy fight, but it will be a fight, and the first session is tomorrow in Ft. Myers.

Correction: BOTH Florida senators are now lining up on the issue, favoring the rec fishermen: http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050809/NEWS01/508090430/1075

 

[DennisW]

I must have read this thread when it was posted nearly a year ago. I can't for the life of me figure out why someone else or I did not say something about the possibility of contracting ciguatera poisoning from eating Jew Fish. Larger predator fish build up the ciguatera toxins in their systems and the resultant ingestion of that toxin can make you extremely ill.

 

[Florabama]

I must have read this thread when it was posted nearly a year ago. I can't for the life of me figure out why someone else or I did not say something about the possibility of contracting ciguatera poisoning from eating Jew Fish. Larger predator fish build up the ciguatera toxins in their systems and the resultant ingestion of that toxin can make you extremely ill.

I've never heard of ciguatera in any of the groupers. I'm 50 years old and have been eating fish all my life including some very big gags, blacks and jewfish (when they were legal) and have never contracted any ill effects. I do avoid baracuda, but lots of people around my neck of the woods eat them and don't get sick.

 

[Krusty]

Its only a crime if you get caught. LOL just joking. But what is a jew fish and how in the hel did it get a name like that. Sems pretty racist to me.

 

[Florabama]

Its only a crime if you get caught. LOL just joking. But what is a jew fish and how in the hel did it get a name like that. Sems pretty racist to me.

I don't know how the jewfish got its name. That's an interesting question, but what it is, is a giant grouper -- the biggest of all the groupers.

http://www.corpusfishing.com/images/Jewfish.jpg

http://www.diveclub.org/gallery_photos/underwater/gulf-pegasus/jewfish_gcw.jpg

 

[Krusty]

that is a huge fish, i wonder how many a fish that size would feed!!!!

 

[TwoBitTxn]

The term Jew fish has never been intended as inflamatory, though way too many in this PC world have taken it as such. That is why the name was recently changed to Goliath Grouper.

Popular belief has it that it was called a Jew fish due to the fact that since it has scales it is ok to eat by Kosher law. Jews are allowed to eat this fish, thus called Jew fish, or something to that effect.

TwoBit

 

[Rick Murchison]

I've never heard of ciguatera in any of the groupers. I'm 50 years old and have been eating fish all my life including some very big gags, blacks and jewfish (when they were legal) and have never contracted any ill effects. I do avoid baracuda, but lots of people around my neck of the woods eat them and don't get sick.

Ciguatera in grouper isn't a problem in the Gulf. It is, however, a problem in tropical coral reef communities from time to time. The risk is higher with Barracuda, but even they are not prone to harboring ciguatera in the Gulf.
Rick