Florida Sea Grant agents and specially-trained divers and anglers spend 10 days watching for goliath grouper during the annual Great Goliath Grouper Count. During the count, participants will fuel up their boats and head offshore to record the number of goliath grouper they observe during visual surveys. The data will be provided to state agencies who can use the information during future stock assessments of the species. The annual count was started in 2010 by citizen volunteers, charter captains, county government staff and scientists from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. It was a way that trained volunteers could provide a cost-effective alternative to collecting valid data that would otherwise exceed the capacity of existing research programs.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
