The FWC will be presenting a draft rule proposal for a future goliath grouper hunt at the commission meeting on October 6, 2021. The FWC's decision to even consider a Goliath hunt is incomprehensible (An opportunity to kill a trophy fish). This is the agency charged with protecting Florida's wildlife and taking into account ALL stakeholder input. They claim to base their decisions on science, yet they ignore the countless scientists who have vocalized their opposition to this proposal.

The FWC believes that goliath populations are recovering, and while it is true that their numbers have grown since near extinction, it has taken 31 years to reach the status of RECOVERING, not recovered.
Goliaths remain listed as a vulnerable species under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The probability of their survival is dependant upon the management of threats they face. Such threats include overexploitation, poaching, habitat loss, and other environmental factors such as red tide. Several large goliaths have washed ashore already this year due to red tide, which doesn't account for the dead fish that never made it to shore. The survival of juveniles goliaths is contingent on mangrove habitats where they spend the first five years of their life. We have lost one-third of our mangrove habitats.

Submit your public comment below at the link provided below.
https://myfwc.wufoo.com/forms/s1g2xh6f009a30i

--Photo by @jim_abernethy--