Abstract

The Nassau grouper, Epinephelus striatus, is a commercially important fish included in the IUCN´s red list as endangered species. During full moon days in winter, this grouper migrates along coral reefs in the Western Atlantic to reach traditional sites to spawn in aggregations of thousands of groupers. Such predictable behavior - tracked down by fishers for decades - has put at risk the persistence of aggregations, in cases to the level of extirpation. In Mexico, the oldest and shallowest aggregation site was located off the Mahahual - in the eastern Yucatan Peninsula - the Mexican Caribbean. After more than 60 years of timely arrivals to the site, by 1996 the Nassau grouper aggregation stopped arriving. At that time, fishery authorities established a temporary ban for protection, but the aggregation did not recover. This work explored the possibility of recovery during January 2013. The survey included interviews to veteran fishermen and visual inspections to the site. A combination of non-responsible fishing (overfishing, illegal fishing) and cruise ships influence may have severely affected the aggregation persistence to the traditional aggregation site.

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