Day 3 had calmer weather and we went out wide of the island and soon found a circling frigate bird. Under this was a big female dolphin, but she looked at a couple of lures and went away. Shortly afterwards, the first blue for day showed up and took a couple of bites on the long right before fading off.
We trolled west to the 12 mile bank and as we got to the NE corner, Derrin spotted a pair of fins stationary at the surface. I raced up the ladder to have a look…swordfish! No doubt. It was sunning in the middle of the day on the flat calm surface. As we trolled closer, the fish stirred, swam and then went under. We circled the area, and not three minutes later, the sword came up on the long right lure, bill out and took a slash at the lure, before going about its business. Derrin nearly fell off the flybridge in his excitement.
A little later, Derrin got a radio call from a local fisherman, Ferris Ebanks Cayman’s “old man”. He was drifting chunks for yellowfin and had just hooked a marlin so was going to pass it over to us to catch and tag. In Cayman, the local fishermen generally release the marlin they hook while fishing for tuna.
Alex Harvey waiting for the bite
Alex took the rod, and settled down for a fight. The local anglers use 80# line straight to the hook so there was no leader, and Alex had to use a light drag. After ten minutes the marlin jumped about three hundred yards away and we backed down on the belly in the line recovering it all and got over the marlin. It was beautiful swimming about thirty feet down, face and bill lit up neon blue as was its tail. I used my underwater video on the swim platform to get shots. The surface was so calm you could see the fish clearly. Time to go in!
I did a couple of passes on the marlin and realized I could overtake the fish and deploy the PSAT underwater without ever having to wire the fish and risk breaking the light leader. So said…so done. George got the necessary footage and just then the thin leader broke at the circle hook and the 175# blue marlin swam off carrying a PSAT. I had not more tags on board.
We headed east again up the north side of the bank, saw a marlin free jumping and headed over to the spot…kaboom! An agitated 150# blue took to the air, and it was Andi’s turn again on the 30# tackle. The marlin made some awesome jumps coming at the boat, and going across the stern before sounding. George was excited. All good, Andi pumped the marlin to the boat, and I went for the usual swim to get the release on film. Glenn and Alex did the honors and the marlin swam off hastily.
We immediately started trolling again and as Andi was letting out his line, a marlin ate the lure and started thrashing around behind the boat. We all looked at each other in amazement. How often does that happen? Alex was up and fought the fish to a standstill without any jumps in short order, and we called the marlin 300# and cut her off quickly, a very green fish.
This was the first time George had been marlin fishing. He certainly was thrown in at the deep end and was able to shoot a lot of great footage. No more bites for the day, and we ended up 3 for 4 on marlin for the day, 4 for 7 on the shoot. I was very proud of the crew, Captain Derrin and Glenn, who did a great job and I would recommend them to anyone visiting Grand Cayman who wants to do some big game fishing, or charter them for a tournament.
On day 4 George and I went to the sandbar early before any of the tour boats arrived and we had the stingrays to ourselves. They exhibit schooling behavior which is unusual for a typically solitary predator, and I wanted to capture some of this behavior on film. We then had another great wall dive accompanied by eagle rays and turtles, jacks and groupers, as well as the odd lionfish.
Next on the agenda were interviews with the Director of the Department of Environment Gina Ebanks-Petri and the Deputy Director Timothy Austin. Each gave solid interviews about the value of the scientific work being done by REEF and collaborating scientists and how valuable this last remaining Nassau grouper SPAG(Spawning Aggregation) site was to the Cayman Islands and the Caribbean as a whole.
It’s a wrap. We did more shooting around town and in the Guy Harvey Gallery and Shoppe and across the road at the original Guy Harvey Island Grill. George Town is a popular destination for cruise ship visitors and stay –over visitors and they enjoy the tranquility and cleanliness of these islands while browsing the shops, restaurants and beaches.
I am confident that this documentary will tell the success story of how the research effort and conservation of the last remaining Nassau grouper spawning site in the central and western Caribbean may see the beginning of a recovery of this overexploited species. Indeed, it is a success story with which the people and government of the Cayman Island should be very proud.
The Marine Conservation Board will meet within the next month to determine whether protection for the spawning sites should be extended. It seems to be common sense to protect any species at times of spawning but, particularly the Nassau grouper, which has been brought to the very edge of extinction throughout its geographic range by lack of proper management and just sheer human greed.
Enough already! Let’s get this done.
Dive safely fish responsibly.
—Guy Harvey
For a complete list of our other featured blog posts and to see the full line of Guy Harvey Sportswear, please visit:www.guyharveysportswear.com
Following the incredible Cayman Islands Squash tournament April 3 – 9, I got going on finishing the Grouper Moon documentary which I started in mid- February. By way of a recap, producer/cameraman George Schellenger and I spent 6 days in Little Cayman shooting the research work being done by the REEF personnel (please visit www.REEF.org) and volunteers along with staff from the Department of Environment, Cayman Island Government.
The timing was such that we experienced the dusk spawn of about 2500 Nassau groupers a few days after the full moon in February. We shot all the daytime census-taking and measuring of adults (using lasers mounted on underwater cameras) gathered for the spawn. We conducted many interviews with the different interest and user groups. It was a very comprehensive shoot.
So… on to Grand Cayman. In order to show all the marine conservation interests at work, I scheduled a four day shoot around Grand Cayman. I wanted to show what Grand Cayman has to offer on and under the water. We started out with an hour long helicopter tour with Jerome and Natalie of Cayman Helicopters, who run a superb heli-experience which can be customized, depending on what you want to see and achieve. That afternoon we dived the Kittiwake and were lucky as a huge school of horse-eye jacks enveloped the superstructure making an awesome scene in the 100 foot viz water.
Andi is hooked up
In addition, there were bar jacks, rainbow runner, squid, tons of juvenile squirrelfish, copper sweepers, blue tangs and other grazing reef fish taking advantage of the new growth of algae up and down the steel hull. An 80 pound goliath grouper has also adopted the wreck. George and I then went to the sandbar to get some stingray footage before heading out to Hammerhead Hill, one of my favorite north wall dives. We encountered groups of spotted eagle rays, a hawksbill turtle, six different species of groupers, and a big hogfish being cleaned by some mini wrasses. Just too cool! Enough for one day of action packed diving.
Day 2 and 3, we were aboard the “Hit ‘n’ Run”, a well maintained 40 foot Luhrs, owned and captained by Derrin Ebanks. I coerced, friend and restaurant owner, Andi Marcher (of “Ragazzi” and “Luca” fame) to come along with my son Alex to be anglers. In two days they each caught two fine blue marlin. The weather was just perfect…it never gets too calm for me, particularly when you are blue marlin fishing.
Day 2 started early. While we waited for the charter boat to arrive, we were amazed at the eagle rays, big sting rays, tarpon and bonefish that were rooting around in the sand by the dock. We left Morgan’s Harbour at the crack of 8 a.m. and trolled about a mile off the coast heading west toward the 12 mile bank all the time looking for frigate birds that would signal the presence of dolphin or marlin. We missed a couple of them, one was a cheap shot but the second was a ripper that had captain Derrin doing a dance on the flybridge.
Blue Marlin, just prior to release
I saw her come in fast from the right side as she crashed the short right lure, then came back around in a swirl for the bite with dorsal and bill out. The big marlin did not come tight and again came in on the same lure. The hair on the back of my neck was standing up when I saw the height of her dorsal fin. She ate this time, was hooked and started jumping straight away going off to the right and then (as a blue marlin can) turned around and headed off to the left like a jetski on steroids. Unfortunately, she crossed the left rigger line and that reel also started howling. Somehow…. the hook came out and after a series of fabulous grey-hounding jumps ….she said goodbye. Lots of great action but no results… and it was only 11 a.m.
We trolled down to 12 mile Bank, and worked the NE tip of this seamount before heading to the SW tip as the current was coming from the NW. This three mile long seamount comes up from 3,500 feet to 90 feet from the surface. You need to fish on that end when the current is coming from the west. A yellowfin tuna popped up chasing flying fish, then a couple more. Cool. This was the place to be. Where there are tuna frolicking, a marlin will be nearby. Sure enough, the right rigger went down, but no hook-up. The marlin blazed over to the left rigger and we were tight. Andi was the angler on 30# test which is ideal tackle for a marlin of 125#. After lots of jumps far away, Andi got the marlin to the boat and I deployed the PSAT(Pop-up Satellite Archival Tag) in the marlin’s left shoulder. I got my gear on and jumped in to film the release. Very good. It was carrying a 3-month PSAT, and headed into the blue. No more bites for the day as we trolled home in perfect weather. That evening, we had a couple of beers at the little restaurant on the Morgan’s Harbour dock. A perfect end to the day.
See our next week’s blog for Part II
For a complete list of our other featured blog posts and to see the full line of Guy Harvey Sportswear, please visit:www.guyharveysportswear.com
Blackfin tuna have torpedo shaped bodies, big bold black eyes, and a glowing bronze band along their flank, highlighting the black back and wide-spread pectoral fins
My most memorable encounters with blackfins were off Belize while filming whale sharks. The mixed schools of blackfins, skipjack tuna and bonitos were corralling small sardines, which in turn attracted the attention of young whale sharks. Snorkeling was the way to go. With video camera in hand, I got some superb footage of the combined effect of the tunas corralling the prey and the whale shark taking advantage of the bonanza. The sardines would swim into the open mouth of the whale shark at the surface to escape the bombardment by tunas. The ever-present silky sharks also joined in the food fest.
Blackfins are the most common small tuna around the Cayman Islands and can be caught year round along the deep drop off, but tend to aggregate around the ends of the islands where the current hits the wall. They are plentiful at 12 Mile Bank, and are targeted by commercial and sports fishermen for use as bait. Anglers use a small feather lure, pink works well, trolled at 4 – 8 knots to catch these scrappy fighters. They are used for live bait to catch bigger yellowfin tuna, wahoos or blue marlin. They are good food fare in their own right but hardly ever reach eight pounds in our waters.
The best way to see blackfins here is to snorkel off the end of 12 Mile bank, either the NE corner or the SW corner in the deep water close to the edge. You can drift and get picked up by your boat to repeat the drift and see these speedsters cruising by. You are likely to encounter other blue water species like rainbow runners, flying fish, wahoos and even the odd blue marlin.
For some reason, the full grown blackfins of 20-40 pounds do not frequent the waters of the central Caribbean. In Florida, the Gulf of Mexico and further south to Central America, they come jumbo-sized averaging 25 pounds. In Jamaica and Cayman, I have caught many in the half pound size range, which are less than a year old. This suggests that these juveniles migrate to the western and northern Caribbean as adults in search of better feeding opportunities. When and how they complete the cycle is not known as little migratory research has been done on this species. The known range for blackfins is from the NE of the USA as far south as Brazil and they are limited to the western Atlantic, unlike many of their relatives like the yellowfin tuna and skipjack tuna that are cosmopolitan species.
If you see black fin tuna on a menu in a local restaurant as sushi, seared or sautéed, give it a try, you will be happy with your choice
In Florida, blackfin tuna have an extended spawning season from April to October and from May to September in the Gulf of Mexico. It is likely they spawn year round in the Caribbean, as I have seen active gonads in blackfins caught here in every month.
Blackfins feed largely on pelagic crustaceans, larvae and juvenile crabs, shrimp, squid as well as small fish and fish larvae. I have often seen them plunder schools of juvenile puffer fish and sardines frequently clearing the surface in high jumps as they come speeding from below onto the prey at the surface. They also feed on any juvenile fish that shelter beneath flotsam. In this situation, if frigate birds are around, they will swoop down and pick the sargassum weed up in their bill, fly several feet, then drop the weed so as to expose the small fish hiding beneath the weed to the tunas. I have yet to see how this benefits the frigate bird!
In turn, blackfin tuna are consumed by larger tunas, king mackerel, barracudas, wahoo and blue marlin, plus a variety of fast ocean-going sharks. The sight of a blue marlin chasing blackfins is amazing— the ocean drama of predator-prey interaction at its best.
If you see black fin tuna on a menu in a local restaurant as sushi, seared or sautéed, give it a try, you will be happy with your choice. They are fished sustainably here in Cayman and elsewhere in their range. It is our collective responsibility to conserve the marine environment and maintain the biodiversity of the planet.
Dive safely, fish responsibly.
—Guy Harvey
For a complete list of our other featured blog posts and to see the full line of Guy Harvey Sportswear with a vast selection of shirts with fish, please visit:www.guyharveysportswear.com
Mahmood Shivji and Brad Wetherbee attach SPOT tag to tiger while Dr. Sam Gruber secures the shark
I recently joined Dr. Sam Gruber and his staff with the Shark Lab in Bimini to tag tiger sharks. We attached a satellite tag (SPOT -Smart Position or Temperature Transmitting) to the dorsal fin of a 9 foot male tiger shark caught off Bimini. This shark was named after a High School in Nassau called CV Bethel— As I follow up on my address to their assembly and to the ministers of the Bahamian Government. We named this shark after the school so the school children would be able to follow the migrations of “their” shark on a weekly basis. Shortly after we left, Dr. Steven Kessel and the shark Lab crew caught a 10 foot female tiger shark. She, also, had a SPOT attached and is named St. Mary, after another Nassau school. Mahmood Shivji and Brad Wetherbee will shortly be making these tracks available to the respective schools.
In addition, I was accompanied by film producer George Schellenger. We shot, for the tiger documentary, some amazing sequences with a great hammerhead and some interactions with Caribbean Reef sharks. No authoritative documentary on tiger sharks could be complete without a visit to the Bimini Shark Lab and some wise words from Dr. Gruber, who has worked in Bimini for more than two decades. The Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation is collaborating with the Bimini Shark Lab on a number of new projects.
By the way,the Bimini Big Game Club is looking great and is gearing up for a busy summer. Some mooring balls were being deployed while I was there, and the new restaurant expansion and deck was in full swing. Clients will be able to dine overlooking the crystal clear water below teaming with jacks, tarpon, eagle rays and bonefish.
The big game is definitely ON!
—Guy Harvey
For a complete list of our other featured blog posts and to see the full line of Guy Harvey Sportswear, please visit:www.guyharveysportswear.com
It was a beautiful winter day with a light north easterly wind, providing for calm conditions in the protection of West Bay, anticipating the deployment and sinking of the USS Kittiwake here in Grand Cayman. Accompanied by Jessica and Alexander, my kids who are both keen divers, we anchored outside the perimeter marked off by the Department of Environment and the Marine Police. Regular updates on the VHF radio gave us an idea of the history of the ship and the projected sinking schedule. The details of the ship’s construction and service can be found on a number of dedicated websites.
Pumping sea water into the hold began around 10:30 a.m. At approximately 2:25 p.m. she started sinking rapidly, stern going down and listing sharply to port. I bet a number of people were holding their breath as it seemed she would topple over in spite of all the preparations, and then appeared to sink upright as air rushed from the port holes and open hatches.
GHRI and GHOF collaborate with other research organizations to better understand tiger sharks
I am a great supporter of artificial reefs, even in a coral reef environment such as ours. Socio economic studies of artificial reefs in Florida demonstrate hundreds of thousands of dollars generated by individual artificial reefs from diving and sport fishing activity each year. As it took about 8 years for this project to be executed, perhaps we, the diving community, the Cayman Island Tourism Association and the Cayman Island Government should immediately start the search for another suitable ship for an artificial reef to be the successor to the “Kittiwake”. I will put my money where my mouth is and volunteer my Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation (GHOF) to assist in locating and funding the next ship.
Talking of mouths, the tiger shark has a big, wide mouth adapted to ripping large chunks out of dead, decaying marine mammals and has large serrated teeth, with re-curved tips designed like a can opener to feed on turtles. Tiger sharks have been of great interest to me and my research arm, the Guy Harvey Research Institute (GHRI). We have tagged or sponsored the electronic tagging of 41 tiger sharks in the north western Atlantic in the last two years. Each SPOT (Smart Position or Temperature Transmitting) tag deployed to the dorsal fin of the shark costs about $2,500 and then another $500 for the satellite time and monitoring. We have tagged tigers: 28 in Bermuda, 7 in the United States Virgin Islands, 4 in the Bahamas and just recently two in Grand Cayman.
The GHRI and GHOF collaborated with a number of research organizations in each of these island territories, which is why the project has been so successful. Tiger sharks, we are now discovering, make seasonal migrations spending much of the warm summer months cruising in the open ocean, often in very deep water, looking for migrating turtles and feeding opportunistically on dead floating animals such as dolphin, whales, fish and sea birds. In the winter, they move into the reef environment around oceanic islands in the Caribbean and Bahamas and will come into very shallow water targeting rays, fish and lobsters.
The Overseas Territories Environmental Programme, with assistance from the DoE, has sponsored a shark population analysis study in the Cayman Islands. Being particularly interested in tiger sharks here, the GHOF sponsored SPOTs when the team caught and tagged two tigers in early December 2010. Both were caught at night in North Sound and successfully released bearing an internal sonic tag and external SPOT attached to the dorsal fin. Each time the animal swims at the surface, the tag sends a signal to a satellite giving its position very accurately. The team was also able to tag Caribbean reef sharks, black tip sharks and nurse sharks—all caught at night in North Sound.
Divers and photographers have been safely interacting with tiger sharks for decades and have watched in horror as their numbers and those of other pelagic migratory sharks have been annihilated for the last three decades in the shark fin trade that threatens to clear all sharks from the planet.
If you are lucky enough to see one of the tiger sharks we have tagged, please send me or the DoE a photo of the animal. If you happen to catch one while out fishing, then please release the animal alive (as you should release all sharks alive) responsibly. In time, all shark species around Cayman will receive the protection they surely need under the new Conservation Law.
Fish responsibly, dive safely.
— Guy Harvey
For a complete list of our other featured blog posts and to see the full line of Guy Harvey Sportswear, please visit:www.guyharveysportswear.com
Our late evening dives were scheduled for 6 p.m. just as the sun was dipping below the horizon. Some DoE staff used rebreather gear to get deeper than the rest of the researchers, and could also stay longer to film the spawning.
The sight of the excited milling groupers was as impressive as many of the great underwater experiences I have witnessed. I have filmed schools of bluefin tuna, great white sharks, marlin, sailfish, whale sharks, whales and dolphins. I’ve done racing drift dives in the Galapagos and on the Great Barrier Reef— this one ranks right up there among them. As it grew dark, the males chased the gravid females in pre-spawning behavior called “caging”. Using bright lights, the footage we took of this behavior was tremendous. As a result of caging, the females shot upwards of twenty feet or more, the other males rushed in from the side to join the action and the gametes were released in a cloud that reduced the visibility temporarily. As the night came on, this process was repeated many times before we had to leave them.
We saw tiger groupers, yellowfin groupers and black groupers, all congregating at the SPAG at the same time as the Nassau groupers. Black jacks, horseye jacks and bar jacks were getting things going as well.
With the spawning complete, the groupers started to head back to their home patch reef, thus, their numbers dwindled. All of them, returning along the steep reefs of Little Cayman to take up their former positions.
It is important to protect spawning areas
The protection of groupers on the SPAGs was working. The regulations have been adequate so far, but as the groupers start to recover, they require more protection, not more fishing. Scott Heppell could not have put it better in his interview with me; “Like growing your bank account, increasing the stock size yields higher dividends without cutting into your principle. Ultimately, the sacrifice involved with rebuilding stocks will put us in a position to catch more fish.” This is what the (disgruntled) fishermen in the Cayman Islands need to comprehend.
There are challenges during the rebuilding process while we are investing more groupers in the “bank”, which is where we currently stand in Little Cayman. During the rebuilding process there are more fish in the water long before the rebuilding goal is attained. The existence of more fish, through conservation efforts by the DoE, could lead to higher catch rates, which would cause a short circuit in the rebuilding process, putting us back to where we were ten years ago. The challenge is to limit catch rates during rebuilding and then manage the bigger bank account without eating into your capital (brood stock) once the stock is rebuilt.
At present, the DoE does a very good job of keeping user groups informed about conservation measures and holds several town meetings annually to appraise fishermen about the natural history of the Nassau grouper and the relevance of their conservation measures. These meetings are well advertized and promoted. I was staggered at the last meeting held in West Bay in February when not one person from the community showed up.
My recommendations for additional conservation measures are as follows;
1) Review and check that the existing boundaries of the SPAGS are accurate.
2) Extend the no fish zone to two miles around each SPAG, but keeping the same period of exclusion, November 1 to March 31. (Remember many other species of grouper, snapper and jacks spawn in the SPAGs at the same time as the Nassau grouper.) SPAGs are VERY important to protect for the benefit of the reef ecosystem.
3) Total protection for Nassau groupers in all three islands during spawning season, November 1 to March 31. No catch, no sale, no possession. Nassau groupers are getting ready to spawn during these months and those that have survived the year should be allowed to spawn. At this stage of the recovery every single fish is important.
4) Raise the minimum length of eligible Nassau grouper from 12 inches to 18 inches. A 12 inch fish is a juvenile and has not yet spawned. It is reasonable to allow fish to spawn once to replace themselves before they are recruited into a fishery.
5) Allow limited fishing for Nassau groupers for the remainder of the year outside of marine parks, but, with a limit of one fish per boat per day. Undersized fish brought to the surface may easily be released and returned to the reef using the correct weighted barbless hook technique. If it has not been done so, the DoE can demonstrate this effective conservation method to fishermen.
Looking at the bigger picture, Little Cayman, with its unique red footed boobies and frigate bird colonies, the indigenous rock iguana, the tarpon lake, Bloody Bay wall and the Nassau grouper, all add up to a very special place that we need to conserve. The title “World Heritage Site” comes to mind.
It will be great to get feedback from the public. You can write a letter by email to;
Returning from an inspiring documentary shoot in Little Cayman last week, I have been itching to tell the story of how cooperation between the private sector, non-governmental organizations (NGO) and government entities is working to assist in the conservation of fish species in the Cayman Islands. Following the public outrage of the massive extraction of Nassau groupers at their spawning sites in the Sister Islands nine years ago, the Marine Conservation Board (MCB) acted on a recommendation from the Department of Environment (DoE) to close the Spawning Aggregation (SPAG) sites to any form of fishing for eight years. For a small nation that heavily depends on diving tourism for income, that was a smart move. Hooray for common sense!
My opening line in the documentary goes “Throughout the warm waters of the western Atlantic and the Caribbean, one species of fish that stands out as the icon of the coral reef environment…the Nassau grouper.” So why are we still catching Nassau grouper if their numbers are so low?
Spawning sites for Nassau Grouper in the Cayman Islands need protection
Protection for the spawning adults was quickly put in place. Meanwhile, Nassau groupers over 12 inches in length, could be caught for the rest of the year anywhere in their range in the Cayman Islands. Eight years have flown by. The ban on fishing the SPAGs is now up for review by the MCB just as the results of all this effort are just starting to pay off for the Nassau groupers. It is quite apparent that this conservation effort (via closed areas and closed seasons) needs to continue for generations to come. As an icon in the Caribbean, the Nassau grouper is featured in photographs, calendars, logos, signage, and in television shows from Belize to Trinidad. Nassau groupers can be conditioned toward divers and can make a divers experience go from a good dive to a great dive when one is encountered.
What impressed me most about this research effort was that every aspect of the life history of the Nassau grouper has been studied. Brice and Christy Semmens are leading the charge. Christy is the Scientific Director at REEF (please visit http://www.reef.org/). They were assisted by Dr. Steve Gittings who is National Science Coordinator of the National Marine Sanctuaries at NOAA as well as several other PhD students and volunteers. In addition, the Cayman Island Dept. of Environment has conducted age and growth studies as well as tracking, using sonic transducers and listening receivers deployed around all three islands. Lead in the field by Phil Bush, with James, Keith, Delwyn and Kevin, the DoE played a most important role in delivering logistical support and personnel, critical in the execution of the research. Use of the RV “Sea Keeper” was critical as a large platform from which to dive in rough seas and strong currents.
Because one SPAG site on the western end of Little Cayman was deemed as still viable, most of the research effort has been concentrated there. Heavier fishing pressure around Cayman Brac and Grand Cayman, have taken its toll, resulting in only a few hundred adults still turning up for the annual spawn.
So how did we arrive at this situation? The biology of the Nassau grouper works against its chances of accommodating any prolonged level of exploitation because it is a long lived, slow growing fish. This species aggregates in large numbers annually in the same place at the same time of year. Once humans find out about these “grouper holes”, greed takes over and they are fished until annihilated. Many species of grouper have the same spawning behavior. As a good example of how effective conservation can be, only twenty years of protection for the biggest of all groupers, the goliath grouper, has resulted in a revival of this species in Florida. The black grouper, yellowfin, red grouper and Nassau grouper, all need the same protection if they are to recover.
Historically the Cayman islanders fished the groupers in the grouper holes taking just what they needed. Apparently, twenty fish per day, per boat was the typical catch. As there was no refrigeration, the fish were salted and dried for later consumption. During grouper season, so many groupers were drying at homes on East End, you could smell them from Pease Bay and Bodden Town if the wind was right. At some point in the 1950s and 60s, the word got out and mother boats came from Jamaica to buy Nassau groupers from the local fishermen. They put the catch on ice and took the fish back to Jamaica to sell. Tens of thousands of Nassau groupers were caught each season resulting in a steady decline. With no quotas or limits, the population became a shadow of its pre-exploitation levels. Since then, relentless fishing by, local artisanal fishermen, of the remaining adults at the SPAGs, further reduced each SPAG to the hundreds. The same story has taken place throughout the range of the Nassau grouper. Now, before it is too late, renewed efforts in grouper conservation in the Bahamas and in the eastern Caribbean are being initiated based on the example set by Cayman.
Once, it was widely believed that recruitment of juvenile reef species to an oceanic island population was brought about by larval drift from other islands and land masses up current. The misconception prevailed that the Nassau grouper “can’t done, and more will come from the ocean”. Eight years of current and tide studies now show that the fertilized eggs from the SPAGs on Little Cayman leave the island for a short period, but then are brought back by the current eddy or gyre. The parent groupers wait until the current is slack to spawn and the fertilized eggs are broadcast at dusk, reducing predation. The eggs hatch into larvae while suspended in the plankton and grow into juveniles before settlement on the reef. Drift studies conducted by REEF and by Dr. Scott Heppell of Oregon State University show that the larvae do not travel far from Little Cayman—some may also end up on Cayman Brac. During daylight hours, mortality of eggs, larvae and juveniles is very high due to other planktonic predators.
The data shows that a marine protected area is appropriate in the Cayman Islands
In addition, the scientific team proved that the brood stock participating in the SPAGs only came from Little Cayman and not from Cayman Brac, Grand Cayman, Pickle Bank, Jamaica or Cuba, as some fisherman believed. In fact, there is very little connectivity of island populations throughout the Caribbean, which strengthens the case for conservation of each island’s brood stock or “capital”.
Sonic tracking and visual observations by divers prove that all the mature Nassau groupers travel from their home reef patch on Little Cayman to the SPAG around the time of the full moon in January, February and March. Here, divers still see the grouper migration by day heading to the west as they respond to the reproductive stimuli that have operated successfully for millions of years, enabling sustainable existence for all that time… until man came into the picture.
Another detrimental influence caused by man is the invasion of a Pacific species, the Lionfish. We were joined in Little Cayman by Chris Flook of the Bermuda Aquarium. Lionfish are a small but highly aggressive predator on Cayman reef and have severely impacted smaller reef fish and invertebrates. Chris said, that in Bermuda, they have taken over many cleaning stations, first eating the species that clean other reef fish, including groupers, and then, lie in wait for other fish coming to be cleaned. The same must be happening here. They will also consume juvenile groupers. Research work on lionfish is also being conducted at the Central Caribbean Marine Institute (CCMI) where local dive operators are helping in the collection and eradication of this very dangerous and invasive species. Juvenile Nassau groupers being recruited from the plankton to the reef environment have to avoid another unfamiliar predator, the lionfish.
During the day, the DoE and REEF teams ran a number of counts to estimate the adults participating in the SPAG. About seventy groupers were tagged with spaghetti tags as well as divers using visual and video counts to obtain these estimates. Other divers used lasers attached to underwater video cameras to measure individual fish without having to catch them.
Many groupers stayed close to the bottom or on the bottom and in coral crevices during the day. In the afternoon, they formed a larger cohesive school, and the closer they got to the spawning night, the more the grouper changed colour. Some turned dark losing their characteristic banded pattern, while others assumed a bi-colour phase dark chocolate brown above and brilliant white below with a white stripe through the eye.
— Guy Harvey
See our next week’s blog for Part II
For a complete list of our other featured blog posts and to see the full line of Guy Harvey Sportswear, please visit:www.guyharveysportswear.com
The most outstanding characteristics of the sailfish is the enormous dorsal fin, which is much higher than the greatest depth of the body. Photo credit: Richard Gibson
The sailfish is the most common of the ten billfish species, and are distributed world-wide in tropical waters. The average size of the Atlantic sailfish is 40-60 pounds and they are one of the smaller billfish species. In the Eastern Pacific they grow twice that size reaching 200 pounds. The outstanding characteristic of the species is the enormous dorsal fin which is much higher than the greatest depth of the body. This fin is used to make the sailfish look three times the size it really is and is particularly used when corralling bait schools. When working in tandem with other sailfish in what I describe as cooperative feeding, the sail is raised and used to keep the bait in a tight school which is then easily managed by predators. In addition, they change color frequently, with dark blue backs and bronze flanks cut by vivid stripes when excited. They are marvelous animals to paint, which is why diving with them is so important to capture the anatomy, color, movement and the thrill of the chase.
In the western Atlantic, sailfish spawn in spring and summer. The tiny fertilized eggs hatch and grow very rapidly, just as all oceanic fish species do. The sailfish will reach six pounds in six months, and may be thirty pounds in their first year. Tagging has shown sailfish will live as long as twelve years and make large seasonal migrations, though some will linger in good feeding areas for long periods. They eat a variety of oceanic species, such as sardines, anchovies, puffer fish, filefish, flying fish, small tunas and bonitos, jacks and ballyhoo. In turn, they have few predators, but the large sharks, such as the mako, tiger and bull sharks, have preyed upon sailfish, as do large blue marlin and some large toothed cetaceans, like orcas.
Sailfish are the world's most sought after billfish and are common in the tropical Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans
There is little directed commercial fishing for sailfish in the Caribbean, but there is a lot of commercial long line activity in the eastern Pacific. This is unfortunate, particularly in Costa Rica, where the recreational use of sailfish is much more valuable to the local economy as a living fish than as a protein source. Socio-economic studies in Central America have shown the sailfish to be a very valuable sustainable resource in the catch and release fishery. The use of circle hooks in this fishery ensures 99% survival, and so some countries, like Guatemala, have banned the landing of all sailfish. There is currently an effort in Central America to have a regional approach to the management of the species, particularly as the species migrates extensively along the coasts of the member countries.
My underwater encounters with sailfish and sardines were some of the most graphic and inspiring I have had in fifteen years of diving with billfish all around the world. Underwater photography of these marvelous fish has become more exciting and educational compared to their angling value and provides a unique experience in certain locations.
It is our collective responsibility to conserve all marine creatures and maintain the biodiversity of the planet.
Good diving and fishing.
— Guy Harvey
For a complete list of our other featured blog posts and to see the full line of Guy Harvey Sportswear, please visit:www.guyharveysportswear.com
I used a couple of spare days I had between Christmas and New Year to visit Tiger Beach on Little Bahama Bank and deploy some more SPOTs on tiger sharks. My team went on board the “Shear Water” with Jim Abernathy who has been diving this site for twelve years on a weekly basis. In addition to the tagging team of Dr. Mahmood Shivji (director of the GHRI) and Neil Burnie of the Bermuda Shark Project, we were accompanied by film maker George Schellenger who is in the process of finishing up an exciting and educational documentary featuring Jim, Wyland and myself interacting with the sharks at Tiger Beach.
Both Wyland and I got some great photos of the Tiger Shark on our trip together
Along for the expedition were my son Alexander, who has assisted me in the Bermuda Shark project, but had yet to dive with a tiger. GH staffer Jay Perez also had his first visit to Tiger Beach as did Ollie Dubock an, English PhD student working on sharks in the Cayman Islands.
There were several things to accomplish. We were able to catch and tag four tiger sharks between 9 and 11 feet long, three females and one male. Most of the tiger sharks we tagged in the last two summers in Bermuda were males. The vast majority of the sharks Jim sees at Tiger Beach are females. We want to find out why there is such a huge difference in the distribution of the sexes. No one knows where tiger sharks breed.
We caught two sharks about 5 miles south of Tiger Beach, one of them at night. The other two were caught at the famous dive site. Jim had checked out these individuals first to make sure they were not one of his “players” or sharks that he sees on a regular basis, and to be sure we wanted to tag the “transient” animals. All sharks were caught on heavy rope and using cable leader and 20/0 circle hooks with the barb filed off. They were handlined into the swim platform and secured on top of the platform with most of their body in the water, breathing normally while Neil deployed the SPOTs in quick time. It took between 7 -10 minutes to tag these huge animals and set them free. Jim and his crew members Jamin, Matt and Brian, were awesome in assisting the catching process and were delighted to be doing something different with these animals. Thanks again team for taking some of your vacation time to assist us with the tagging effort. We were lucky with the weather, and had a successful expedition.
Film maker George Schellenger was busy shooting everything with help from Alex, Jay and me to fill out his own documentary but also shoot more footage for my comprehensive documentary on the natural history of tiger sharks. This is approaching completion and I am just waiting on another cycle of tracks to come in before I can wrap up the story.
George plans to use his documentary to educate the government and people of the Bahamas about the value of a living shark (shark interactive programmes bring over $50 million dollars per year to the country’s economy) and to encourage them not to allow commercial fishing for shark fins by local or foreign companies. Permitting this kind of extraction would annihilate the last strong hold for sharks in the north western Atlantic. This has been the case in so many other countries, but island nations now becoming involved in protection of sharks and promoting shark interactive programmes for tourism and research are having big success stories.
Fish responsibly, dive safely. Happy New Year.
— Guy Harvey
For a complete list of our other featured blog posts and to see the full line of Guy Harvey Sportswear, please visit:www.guyharveysportswear.com
The Wahoo's color pattern is characterized by the vivid "tiger" stripes running down the body, particularly when excited
Wahoo are highly migratory ocean game fish and visit the islands and seamounts that make up the Cayman Islands in the winter months. Although they are available all year round, their peak of abundance is from October to December and February to April. The Cayman Islands record wahoo of 146 lbs. was caught in June 2007 off East End, Grand Cayman. The only bigger wahoo caught in the Caribbean have come from the Bahamas, while the current all-tackle world record of 182 lbs. was caught recently in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
The wahoo is a cosmopolitan species found in all tropical and subtropical waters around the planet. Growing to 200 lbs. and over 6 feet long, the wahoo is built for speed; long and slim, a stiff upright tail and long pointed jaws equipped with sharp teeth. They have color typical of ocean game fish, with blues, purples and bronze, but are characterized by vivid “tiger” stripes running down the body, particularly when excited. They are one of the most beautiful of fish and are a favourite of mine to paint.
Wahoo will form aggregations as juveniles up to 15 lbs., but typically become solitary as adults. Sometimes far offshore, I have come across a floating log, holding a school of young wahoo, and will chum them with cut bait, then dive in to watch the juveniles light up their vivid stripes as they feed. As many prey species find sanctuary in the open ocean under flotsam, I portray scenes of wahoo or dolphin fish and marlin with floating objects in the background as it is a natural situation and educates the viewer about the natural history of the species.
Wahoo are speedy, fast growing and excellent table fare. Many anglers consider them the finest game fish available in offshore waters
Wahoo have never been targeted as a commercial fishery resource, because though they have widespread distribution, nowhere are they abundant like other small mackerel species or some tuna species. They are a very fast growing species, up to 20 lbs. in the first year, and reproduce rapidly, like most oceanic fish species. Wahoo are currently fully exploited by recreational fisherman around the Caribbean and Central America. Some countries have daily bag limits, and in others they are conserved for recreational use only. I have released many wahoo under 10 lbs., and once I have caught a couple adults in a morning, I will then switch to another type of fishing.
In the Cayman Islands, anglers target the wahoo along the steep drop offs around the islands and on the 12-mile bank, 60-mile bank and Pickle bank. Individual crews have their preferred rigs, but trolling ballyhoo bait with a skirt on a wire line is a popular rig. Wahoo will bite any artificial lure that is moving fast, so many crews here troll at 11 to 14 knots and make use of the wahoo’s predatory nature and tremendous speed to generate the action. One word of caution; a wahoo’s teeth are so sharp, they can cause bad injuries even when dead. I have a terrible scar on my left foot caused when a dead wahoo’s open mouth came in contact with my bare foot in a rolling sea. Since then I have always worn boating shoes out on the water.
There are many good island recipes for wahoo, but this is a fish that I like to eat fresh, which is why one will do me for a while. The flesh is white and dense, and can become dry if overcooked, so I like to include a good buttery sauce when steaming or grilling fresh wahoo steaks.
Fish and dive responsibly, good luck, and tight lines.
—Guy Harvey
For a complete list of our other featured blog posts and to see the full line of Guy Harvey Sportswear, please visit:www.guyharveysportswear.com
I would like to welcome you to the Guy Harvey Sportswear web site. Here we will feature my blog where I will report on expeditions, adventures, and various marine conservation efforts. We will also include various guest bloggers, videos and photos that I believe you will find interesting, whether you are a serious fishing or diving enthusiast, or simply someone who cares about the marine resource, loves living the coastal lifestyle, or just wants to learn more about Guy Harvey sportswear.
I would like to welcome you to the Guy Harvey Sportswear web site. Here we will feature my blog where I will report on expeditions, adventures, and various marine conservation efforts. We will also include various guest bloggers, videos and photos that I believe you will find interesting, whether you are a serious fishing or diving enthusiast, or simply someone who cares about the marine resource, loves living the coastal lifestyle, or just wants to learn more about Guy Harvey sportswear.
