Huge groupers, the joy of Florida divers, are now 'vulnerable'

The goliath grouper, a colossus of a fish that can weigh up to 360 kilograms, is the delight of divers in Florida, though scientists warn their numbers are down since the US state allowed fishing of the giants to resume. A marine biologist said that the goliath grouper has been protected since 1990 in state and federal waters until this year, the state has changed the law that a limited number of goliath grouper can be captured.

The dive industry has been reporting fewer and fewer fish over the last number of years and the marine biologists had an opportunity to repeat a study last year in 2022 to estimate the absolute abundance of goliath groupers around these sites. According to a diver it has actually gone down in number of goliath grouper compared to over the years.