- REBREATHERS - SPORT DIVERS ... - Stingray Divers

Back in the Day
When I hear some divers talk of how
many goliaths they are seeing today, I
think back to the early days of my diving
career and the stories I’ve heard from
the real old timers, and remind them
that they haven’t seen nothing yet!
During the 1950’s and 60’s, goliath
groupers were easy to find. Although
they favor depths in the 60 to 200 foot
range, to hear old timers tell it, it was
not uncommon to find them lurking in
very shallow water, often as close as the
nearest pier, jetty or channel marker.
So plentiful were these gigantic groupers
many enterprising charter-boat skippers in
Key West would routinely haul in dozens at
a time, solely for photo opportunities with
their proud anglers. Beyond that, goliaths
held little commercial value, as the quality
of their meat was more fit for cat food
when compared to the other grouper and
snapper stocks that were highly available
in the area.
My own introduction to these big fish
dates back to when I was a hunter rather
than a photographer - the art of taking
resources over my interest in taking
pictures. During the late 70’s, wrecks off of
Florida’s west coast were literally swarming
with gray, black and red grouper, as well
as quite a few big lobster and, of course,
scores of giant goliath groupers.
I can recall mid to late summer trips
to wrecks such as the Stony and Baja
California when we would encounter
literally hundreds of big goliaths in one
location. We didn’t know it then, but we had
been witnessing spawning aggregations.
2
Jewfish, June fish, Goliath Grouper, What’s in a Name
Although most of us still recognize goliath groupers by their former name, Jewfish,
Florida’s early settlers had another name for this behemoth, the June fish. Apparently the
name was derived by the fact that these large fish were most accessible to fishermen during
the summer months, beginning in June.
Somewhere along the way the name evolved into Jewfish. As to how it got there has
generated plenty of speculation. In 2001, the fish’s name was officially changed to goliath,
meaning large, not “Goliath,” after the giant who was defeated by David.
A snapshot from the early 1960’s shows a proud Key West boat captain with his family and
morning haul of 17 large goliath grouper.
www.underwaterjournal.com June/July 2007