PIMS senior scientist, Dr. Krista Sherman checks the status of the passive acoustic recorder being used to monitor sounds produced by Nassau grouper and identify the presence of other aggregating grouper species during the spawning season. © Valeria Pizarro
ZNS Bahamas
There are glimmers of hope for the critically endangered Nassau grouper, a species which despite seasonal closures and size restrictions continue to experience declines throughout The Bahamas and the Caribbean. Dedicated protection and conservation efforts have led to positive changes at some breeding sites — also called fish spawning aggregations (FSAs) according to Dr Krista Sherman, senior scientist at the Perry Institute of Marine Science (PIMS).
“The Hope Town FSA, which is in a remote location, is relatively healthy — supporting thousands of Nassau grouper. This is good news. It’s encouraging after documenting declines at several other historic FSAs over the past decade where aggregations either no longer form or have been drastically reduced, which is the case around Andros and Long Island.” PIMS, a non-profit marine research and conservation organization, has been using a variety of techniques to identify active spawning sites, monitor Nassau grouper abundance during and outside of the spawning season, map FSAs and understand how their populations are structured and connected throughout the archipelago.
Collectively, these data provide much-needed information to guide sustainable management of a species listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Read more >>