Fisherman catches 50-year-old grouper, and some flack
A Florida fisherman landed a 350-pound Warsaw grouper off Southwest Florida that biologists from the FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute determined to be 50 years old and a valuable asset to its aging program.
“Biologists from FWRI’s Age and Growth Lab estimated the age of this fish at 50 years old, making this the oldest sample collected for our aging program,” the institute reported on its Facebook page. “Acquiring the otolith from this fish was extremely valuable as samples from larger and older fish are rare.”
Otoliths are commonly known as “ear stones” and help biologists determine the age as well as growth rates of various fishes.
The catch was made by Jason Boyll of Sarasota on Dec. 29 while fishing in 600 feet of water.
“Almost as exciting as seeing this guy boat-side was the look on everyone’s face and the excitement when I got this otolith,” Boyll wrote on his Facebook page. “So happy @fwcresearch was able to process this.”
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Not everybody was happy. Many comments under the institute’s post were critical of the catch of what the FWRI called “a big old fish.” One called it a tragedy; another said it is “so wrong.”
“This is actually sad,” someone wrote. “A fish like that should not have been killed.”
“Catch and release is the way to go,” another added.
Though biologists acknowledged the value of acquiring such a specimen, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said it “does not encourage the targeting of Warsaw grouper since the status of the population in the Gulf is unknown.”
The Warsaw grouper is characterized by an elongated dorsal spine, and is the only grouper with 10 dorsal spines, one less than all the others. They are found in depths from 180 to 1,700 feet.
Photos of the catch and otolith courtesy of FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.