By Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost staff writer scocking@guyharveyoutpost.com Marine artist/conservationist/cinematographer Dr. Guy Harvey this week is scuba diving at one of the most exciting and ecologically-important …
Dr. Guy Harvey Applauds Decision But Says More Needs to Be Done GEORGE TOWN, GRAND CAYMAN—DECEMBER 16, 2011— A groundswell of public support generated by Guy Harvey’s latest film The Mystery of …
45-Minute Film Promotes Protection of the Endangered Nassau Grouper GEORGETOWN, GRAND CAYMAN— Marine artist and conservationist Dr. Guy Harvey and award-winning filmmaker George Schellenger have …
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Travel Tips![](mailto:?subject=Diving the Grouper Moon&body=<img class=" size-medium wp-image-3275 alignleft" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/grouper.jpg?w=300" alt="Grouper" width="300" height="222" />By Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost staff writer
scocking@guyharveyoutpost.com
Marine artist/conservationist/cinematographer Dr. Guy Harvey this week is scuba diving at one of the most exciting and ecologically-important sites in the Caribbean-- a coral wall about 100 feet deep near Little Cayman Island recognized as one of the largest spawning aggregation sites for endangered Nassau grouper anywhere.
Harvey plans to gather more video footage for "The Mystery of the Grouper Moon"--a documentary he first produced with George Schellenger in 2011. The aim is to help build a groundswell among Caymanians to continue protection for Nassaus that use the site for reproduction each year around the full moons in January and February.
Harvey's efforts paid off when the Cayman government extended a harvest ban in the area through 2019. But he said that's not enough to ensure a sustainable Nassau population.
"Our goal is to get the population here in Cayman up to 10,000 and repopulate the other islands and bring this fishery back to its former glory," Harvey said.
Not so long ago, tens of thousands of Nassau grouper-- a beautiful, slow-growing, and unfortunately very tasty reef-dweller-- reproduced successfully at five sites around the Cayman Islands in winter. But fishermen quickly figured this out and so decimated the aggregation that the only spawning site left in the area is off Little Cayman.
This pattern of overfishing also occurred at some 50 other spawning sites in the Caribbean and Bahamas, rendering between one-third and one-half of them inactive.
Today, the harvest of Nassau grouper is banned year round in the U.S.; prohibited December through February in the Bahamas, but open everywhere in the Cayman Islands except off Little Cayman.
Harvey would like to see all Nassau harvest closed in the Cayman Islands from November through March, and he's not alone.
The Key Largo-based Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) and the Cayman Department of the Environment have been researching the "Grouper Moon" for the past 13 years-- counting fish; implanting them with acoustic tags; collecting larvae and performing other research.
Harvey said it's fascinating observing the scientists working with the fish.
"The area is spectacular-- a wall on the western side of Little Cayman," he said. "They spawn at dusk in about 100 feet in the current. They turn black and white as they spawn-- one to two dozen males with one female. One of the wonders of nature. Very exciting,"
Harvey said efforts to protect the aggregation-- while not as comprehensive as he would like--have achieved some benefits. In 2010, he said, researchers counted about 2,500 spawners. Last winter, he said, about 5,000 were found reproducing at the site.
"I get first hand the feeling on how the spawning population has improved from previous years," he said. "It really is working."
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Sue Cocking chronicles the Guy Harvey Outpost travel and adventure experience in regular blog posts on GuyHarveyOutpostNews.com/. For 21 years, Cocking covered the full spectrum of outdoors adventure opportunities in South Florida and beyond for the Miami Herald, including fishing, diving, hunting, paddling camping, sailing and powerboat racing. She is a certified scuba diver and holder of an IGFA women's world fly fishing record for a 29-pound permit.
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![](mailto:?subject=Guy Harvey’s “The Mystery of the Grouper Moon” Documentary to Premier September 13th in Grand Cayman&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/savethespag.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-842" title="Save The Grouper Spawning Aggregation" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/savethespag.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="413" /></a>
45-Minute Film Promotes Protection of the Endangered Nassau Grouper
GEORGETOWN, GRAND CAYMAN— Marine artist and conservationist <a title="Guy Harvey Inc. web site" href="http://www.guyharvey.com/" target="_blank">Dr. Guy Harvey</a> and award-winning filmmaker <a title="About George Schellenger" href="http://www.statusproductions.com/aboutus.html" target="_blank">George Schellenger</a> have a strong message in their new collaboration “The Mystery of the Grouper Moon”— convince <a title="Cayman Islands web site" href="http://www.caymanislands.ky/" target="_blank">Cayman</a> government officials to extend a ban on fishing at spawning aggregations for the endangered <a title="About Nassau Grouper" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nassau_grouper" target="_blank">Nassau Grouper</a>.
Shot entirely in the Cayman Islands and supported by <a title="REEF web site" href="http://www.reef.org/" target="_blank">REEF</a> (Reef Environmental Education Foundation) and the <a title="Cayman Islands DOE web site" href="http://www.doe.ky/" target="_blank">Cayman Islands Department of Environment</a>, the 45-minute documentary is scheduled to premier on September 13th at the Harquail Theatre in Grand Cayman. Two showings are planned, with the first starting at 6 p.m. The general public is invited. Dr. Harvey, a resident of Grand Cayman, will be distributing “Save Nassau Grouper” posters to those in attendance as well as to students on subsequent school visits in October.
At stake in this effort by Dr. Harvey and other leading marine scientists is the protection of one of the last-known intact spawning areas for the Nassau Grouper in the world. An eight year ban on fishing at these spawning aggregations, mandated in 2003 by the CI Marine Conservation Board, is due to expire in December of this year.
“The Nassau groupers in the Cayman Islands used to congregate over the full moon in January and February at eight specific sites,” said Dr. Harvey. “Local fishermen have known about these sites for years, but recently, overfishing at these sites has led to the rapid decline in this species. Today, one active site remains in west end of Little Cayman.”
Dr. Harvey said that thanks to the ban at this site and other locations, colonies are beginning to grow again, thus helping the Nassau Grouper populations to recover.
“Part of our awareness effort is to enlist the support of residents, especially school age children, to send e-mails to the Hon. Mark Scotland, The Minister of Environment, to express their wishes to see the extension on the protection of the grouper holes,” added Dr. Harvey. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/guy-harveys-the-mystery-of-the-grouper-moon-documentary-to-premier-in-grand-cayman/){kind=link}
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