FSUGG Tags- Spawning migration patterns of the Atlantic Goliath Grouper

Goliath Grouper (Epinephelus itajara), the largest reef fish in the western Atlantic, was once relatively common throughout Florida and the Caribbean. Due to overfishing and loss of juvenile habitat, it is considered critically endangered (Craig 2011). However, under total protection from harvest since 1990, population recovery has occurred in the southeastern US and spawning aggregations can now be found annually on the shelf off southeast and southwest Florida.

Aggregations of 20 to over 100 individuals occur on specific sites, both artificial and natural sites, from late July through October. To investigate the nature of spawning migrations, we implanted 50 adult Goliath Grouper with ultrasonic transmitter tags (VEMCO 69 kHz V16-P coded transmitters) on known spawning sites in 2010 to 2013. Tagged fish were tracked as they moved through the FACT array of VEMCO VR2 and VR2W ultrasonic receivers.

This study utilizes long-term tagging data of individual fish to aid in understanding the movement patterns of a large reef fish species of special conservation concern.