I’ve taken down the article on the spawning aggregation of Nassau Grouper in Little Cayman in anticipation of a mini-feature article that will be appearing in the July issue of Sport Diver. Be sure to stay tuned for the full article as well as great photos and videos in July!
Every year, as many as four thousand Nassau Grouper assemble on one reef in Little Cayman for one of the most spectacular sights in the underwater world. They come only once or twice a year to spawn, releasing millions of eggs in a single spawning rush and taking advantage of their only opportunity to repopulate the Nassau Grouper population of the island. REEF’s Grouper Moon Project has been studying the aggregation for the last eight years, and thanks to their hard work with the Cayman Islands Department of Environment, this amazing spawning aggregation has been protected for seven of those years. The seven years of protection have had tangible and lasting effects on the overall Nassau Grouper population of Little Cayman, but unfortunately the protection of this critical resource is now being called into question. A very vocal fishing community is calling for the fishing bans of spawning aggregation sites like this one to be lifted throughout the Cayman Islands, exposing this vulnerable spawning population of endangered Nassau Grouper. Similar aggregations of Nassau Grouper used to exist all throughout the Caribbean, and have been systematically wiped out by fishing pressures. This site is most likely the last healthy spawning aggregation of Nassau Grouper in the world, and it’s absolutely essential that it is protected into the future for the sake of the marine ecosystem, as well as divers and fishermen alike.
Learn more about the spawning aggregation and the research that REEF and the Cayman Islands DOE have been conducting, and track this year’s Nassau Grouper Larvae at:
http://www.reef.org/programs/grouper_moon/
http://www.reef.org/programs/grouper_moon/adrift/
And Sign the Petition to maintain protection of this critical resource:
Great article. My fondest memories of diving Little Caymen involve Nassau Groupers. They were so trusting and photogenic.
All 15 instructors and owners of Divetech in Grand Cayman very much enjoyed this website and support all your hard work. Our new shore dive at Lighthouse Point (NW point of Grand Cayman) has seen large schooling (200-300) of groupers around the January’s 2011 full moon. There were also around 30 Mammoth groupers in and around this area off the deep wall.
There will be more fish for everyone if the spags are left untouched. I hope that fishermen everywhere will learn how this all works.
As a homeowner, vacation rental owner, diver, and future retiree on Cayman Brac, anything to curtail man’s destruction of the reefs and their inhabitants I’m in support of.