The Tribune

THE Department of Marine Resources has announced that the Nassau grouper season is officially closed until February 28, 2016.

The closure began on December 1.

The taking, landing, possessing, selling and offering for sale of any fresh Nassau grouper is prohibited during this time.

“Further, any grouper that is caught must be landed with head, tail and skin intact,” a statement from the department said. “Persons found in violation may face a fine of $5,000 or imprisonment to a term of one year or both upon conviction.”

“As practised in the past, persons possessing Nassau Grouper prior to the initiation of the closed season are required to make a written declaration of the quantities of the resource in their possession to the Department of Marine Resources or in the case of the Family Islands, to their local fisheries representatives, the police or the local Family Island administrator.”

A statement from the Bahamas Reef Environmental Education Foundation (BREEF) applauded the “strong commitment that the government has taken to protecting the Bahamian fishing industry by legislating the annual Nassau Grouper closed season.” BREEF said this clear legislation eliminates any confusion related to the closed season that in the past had been announced on a year-by-year basis.

“The closed season is a critical tool for protecting this important fish for future generations of Bahamian fishers and the public,” BREEF said.

“The Nassau grouper grows slowly, taking over seven years to reach maturity, and it has the habit of aggregating together in predictable times and places to reproduce. These characteristics have led to the collapse of the fishery in so many other neighbouring countries, and has resulted in its listing as ‘endangered’ by the (International Union for Conservation of Nature). We certainly want to avoid a complete fishery collapse here in the Bahamas. Research carried out by BREEF and partners such as the Bahamas National Trust, The Nature Conservancy, the University of Exeter, Shedd Aquarium, the Perry Institute of Marine Science, the Department of Marine Resources and others over the years, have documented a decline in the numbers of Nassau groupers at spawning aggregation sites.

“The newly-legislated closed season between the December 1 and the February 28 each year will give the Nassau grouper a chance to reproduce and create the next generation of fish.”