I’m not much for fishing and until I started scuba diving, my interest in the ocean was passive. I had heard the name “Jewfish” before but I had no idea what it looked like. The Jewfish is a member of the grouper family and can easily weigh over 300 pounds and be 6-7 feet long. The current world record is 680 pounds. They live 30 to 50 years and are a protected species in Florida waters. The fish has officially been renamed (as of May 16, 2001) the Goliath Grouper, all in the name of PC.
The “Square Grouper” is a whole different animal… Back in the 1980′s, they used to float in the north gulf stream waters in schools of 10 to 100 at a time. Smugglers would spot a Coast Guard ship and toss them overboard. It has become increasingly hard to spot the square grouper. That either means that the government is actually doing an efficient job (right!) of controlling the drug smugglers or that the smugglers have found more efficient means of transportation…
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