Volume 66
Sad Farewell to C. Lavett-Smiths Iconic Nassau Spawning Aggregation Site
Authors
Erisman, B., C. McKinney-Lambert, and Y. Sadovy de Mitcheson Download PDF Open PDF in BrowserOther Information
Date: November, 2013
Pages: 421 422
Event: Proceedings of the Sixty six Annual Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute
City: Corpus Christy
Country: USA
Abstract
In January 1971, C. Lavett Smith, a renowned North American ichthyologist, witnessed a spectacular event off the coast of Bimini, Bahamas (Smith 1972). At the shelf edge just a short distance west of Little Cat Cay, following up on reports from fishers, he witnessed a massive gathering of Nassau groupers about to spawn. Smith estimated that between 30,000 and 100,000 fish were present. His was the very first underwater observation of a reef fish spawning aggregation ever recorded for a reef in the scientific literature. Nothing has been reported from this site since Smiths initial publication which remains today, 40 years on, the largest grouper aggregation ever recorded. Given that most spawning aggregations of this species have now either disappeared, or at best precipitously declined, and given that the Nassau grouper is currently being assessed under the Endangered Species Act, Science and Conservation of Fish Aggregations (SCRFA; www.SCRFA.org) sponsored a trip in 2012 to resurvey the site and see what had happen to Smiths famous aggregation.