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©2004-2007 Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute, Inc.
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Goliath grouper (formerly jewfish), Epinephelus itajara (Serranidae: Epinephelinae) (Lichtenstein, 1822), is widely distributed throughout the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean, western Atlantic from Florida to Brazil, eastern Atlantic from Senegal to the Congo and eastern Pacific from the Gulf of California to Peru. The species is one of a number of long-lived, late maturing and slow-growing serranids that form temporally and spatially predictable spawning aggregations. Goliath grouper have a wide oxygen and salinity tolerance and can be found within a number of habitats, including mangrove swamps, seagrass beds, estuaries and coral reef. Like many serranids, the species is vulnerable to a wide variety of fishing gears and is targeted throughout much of its life history, including at spawning aggregation sites. Throughout its range, Goliath grouper are now vulnerable to extinction, with a possible increase in vulnerability through the continued destruction of mangrove habitat, loss of spawning aggregations and heightened targeting of juveniles in some areas as demand increases. Although there has been a rise in the current body of knowledge of the species’ life history and conservation needs, there is still much to be done to promote its conservation, including the need for raising awareness of the importance of habitat protection, and vulnerability to fisheries. Through this symposium, GCFI and the organizers aim to bring together researchers, managers and conservationists from the species’ distributional range to identify immediate and future common priorities with a scientific and conservation focus.
The symposium will consist of a mix of invited and selected papers covering a range of topics that include population structure, life history, fisheries, traditional knowledge, and conservation and management. For more information , please contact Rachel Graham or Kevin Rhodes at goliath@gcfi.org. To submit an abstract, please use the abstract submission form. Authors of Symposium papers will be invited to submit their manuscripts for full peer review and consideration for inclusion in a Special Issue of the conservation journal Endangered Species Research , please consult the site for guidelines to authors in prepartion of manuscripts
