THE DECLINE AND REBOUND OF NASSAU GROUPER

CONNECTING SCIENCE TO REAL-WORLD NEEDS

INFORMING A NEW LAW

• All of Little Cayman’s spawning Nassau grouper are local to that island (the same is true for all the islands), meaning that local conservation efforts would produce local benefits. Furthermore, all resident Nassau grouper visit their local aggregation every year. In response, in 2003 the government banned grouper fishing at aggregation sites during spawning season for eight years.
• Age at maturity was established, as were reproductive rates. In 2016, parliament used this information to set a minimum size limit to allow fish to grow to maturity, and a maximum size limit to retain old fish, which produce more and larger eggs. It also banned fishing for Nassau grouper everywhere in Cayman waters during the spawning season, not just at aggregation sites.
• Successful reproduction is sparse in most years, with aggregations yielding only occasional bumper crops of juveniles. The 2003 fishing ban had an eight-year sunset period, but in recognition that this span of time would not guarantee a good year for young fish, the Cayman Islands Government did not put an expiration date on its 2016 conservation measures.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)

Ben Shouse

Ben Shouse is an officer at the Lenfest Ocean Program.

Brice Semmens

Brice Semmens is an associate professor in the Marine Biology Research Division at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at University of California, San Diego.

Christy Pattengill-Semmens

Christy Pattengill-Semmens is director of science for the Reef Environmental Education Foundation.

Scott Heppell

Scott Heppell is associate professor of fisheries at Oregon State University.

Bradley Johnson

Bradley Johnson is a research officer with the Cayman Islands Department of Environment.

Croy McCoy

Croy McCoy is with the Cayman Islands Department of Environment and is a PhD student at Bangor University, Wales, U.K.

Gina Ebanks-Petrie

Gina Ebanks-Petrie is Director of the Cayman Islands Department of Environment.