Nassau Grouper
Epinephelus striatus
Photo: q phia · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
Keep or release?
Release it
It's protected — keeping one is illegal.
Protected: Listed as threatened under the US Endangered Species Act in 2016; harvest prohibited in US federal waters.
TIDE covers New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland rules, plus federal protections everywhere.
Verifying against GBIF…
Conservation status
IUCN Red ListCritically Endangered. Fishing on its predictable spawning aggregations removed the adults faster than any other pressure could.
What Critically Endangered means
Facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
Legally protected
Listed as threatened under the US Endangered Species Act in 2016; harvest prohibited in US federal waters.
On your plate
Do Not Consume
Harvest and possession are prohibited in US waters, and the species is listed as threatened under the US Endangered Species Act. A commonly eaten group of fish with one member that must be left alone.
Conservation status and seafood sustainability are two different questions. A species can be Least Concern globally and still be overfished, protected or unsustainable where you are.
Habitat
Coral reefs and rocky bottoms from shallow water to about 100 m
Range
Caribbean, Bahamas, Bermuda and the Gulf of Mexico
Size
Up to 1.2 m and 25 kg
Diet
Fish and crustaceans, ambushed from reef cover
Lifespan
Up to 29 years
Group
fish
Thousands of Nassau grouper once gathered at the same reef corners on the winter full moon to spawn — aggregations so reliable that fleets simply waited for them.
They can shift between eight different colour patterns in seconds.
Most begin life as females and can later function as males.
Try this instead
Sustainable seafood alternatives
Nassau Grouper is protected and must not be taken. These are lower-impact choices that are not.