The Eleutheran - Eleuthera News, Sport and much more from Eleuthera: Closure of the Nassau Grouper Season - Dec 01, 2008 to Feb 28, 2009.

Closure of the Nassau Grouper Season - Dec 01, 2008 to Feb 28, 2009.
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admin on 25 November, 2008 
 
The Government of The Bahamas has once again mandated the closure of the Nassau
Grouper Season, in keeping with regional efforts to conserve the vulnerable
Caribbean reef fish. The season will be closed from December 1, 2008 to February
28, 2009 throughout the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
According to the Fisheries Resources (Jurisdiction and Conservation) (Amendment)
Regulations , 2008, it will be illegal for any person to take, land, process,
sell or offer for sale any fish commonly known as "the Nassau Grouper" during
the period December 01, 2008 and February 28, 2009. The only exception allowed
for, is where the taking or landing is carried out with the written approval of
the Director of Fisheries for scientific research purposes.
To ensure that the species is not being harvested or sold during the closed
season, the fisheries regulation also mandates that any grouper species that is
landed during the period, must be done so with head, tail and skin intact.
The Nassau Grouper is listed as threatened by the American Fisheries Society and
endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It
is fully protected in the United States with permission granted only for catch
and release.
The species aggregates by the thousands to spawn and the closure aims to protect
them in Bahamian waters during this critical point in their life cycle.
In 2003 the Cayman Island Marine Conservation Board instituted an 8-year total
fishing ban on all known Nassau grouper aggregation sites in their territorial
waters.