Red Grouper (Epinephelus morio)

• The Gulf red grouper population is not overfished and overfishing is not occurring. Abundance of South Atlantic red grouper is not known, and overfishing is occurring.
• The Gulf red grouper stock has been rebuilt after being declared overfished in the early 2000s.
• Grouper is low in saturated fat. It is also a good source of vitamins B6 and B12, phosphorus, and potassium, and a very good source of protein and selenium. For more on nutrition, see Nutrition Facts. (USDA)
• In the United States, red grouper are harvested in the Gulf of Mexico and Southeast Atlantic commercial reef fish fishery. Almost 90% of the 2008 harvest (6.2 million pounds worth over $15.2 million) came from the Gulf. The United States also imported almost $25 million in grouper species in 2008, mostly from Mexico.

Sustainability Status

Biomass: Gulf of Mexico biomass is 27% above the biomass needed to support maximum sustainable yield (B_MSY), as of 2006. South Atlantic biomass-based overfished status is unknown.
Overfishing: No (Gulf of Mexico stock); Yes (South Atlantic stock)
Overfished: No (Gulf of Mexico stock); Unknown (South Atlantic stock)
Fishing and habitat: There is little scientific information on the impacts on marine habitats from hook-and-line gear, but habitat impacts appear to be minimal.
Bycatch: The South Atlantic Snapper Grouper Fishery Management Plan prohibits the use of trawl gear, fish traps, and bottom longlines inside 50 fathoms to reduce bycatch in the South Atlantic fishery. The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council continues to explore new methods to further reduce bycatch. The Gulf Reef Fish FMP provides measures to reduce bycatch of incidentally caught endangered sea turtles and smalltooth sawfish in the Gulf of Mexico. Measures that went into effect in June 2008 require reef fish fishermen to use circle hooks, venting tools, and dehooking devices to reduce the mortality of released bycatch. Fish traps and trawl gear are prohibited from being used in the reef fish fishery and longlines can only be used outside of 20 fathoms in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and outside of 50 fathoms in the western Gulf of Mexico.
Aquaculture:There is currently no aquaculture production of red grouper in the U.S.

Science and Management

The red grouper fishery is managed as separate South Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico stocks. In the South Atlantic, red grouper is managed by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council's Snapper Grouper FMP. In the Gulf, red grouper is one of several species managed under the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council's Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan (FMP).

Commercial regulations in the South Atlantic Snapper Grouper FMP include size limits, gear restrictions, gear-area closures, special management zones, and limited access permits. Currently, the minimum size limit is 20 inches total length. For the recreational fishery, a 20-inch total length minimum size limit, a 5-fish aggregate bag limit, and gear restrictions apply. In September 2008, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council approved an amendment to the FMP that would improve the status of all shallow-water grouper species, including red grouper. NOAA Fisheries Service partially approved the amendment and approved management measures became effective July 29, 2009.

Commercial regulations in the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish FMP include quotas, size limits, commercial trip limits, and gear restrictions. Regulations for the recreational fishery include an aggregate bag limit, size limit, and seasonal closure. A 10-year rebuilding plan was established for red grouper in 2004. The 2007 stock assessment of Gulf red grouper indicated the stock has rebuilt and is not undergoing overfishing. In May 2009, Amendment 30B went into effect. This amendment increased the red grouper quota, reduced the commercial size limit, increased the recreational red grouper bag limit, decreased the aggregate grouper bag limit, eliminated the one-month commercial seasonal closure, extended the recreational seasonal closure, and established a four-month seasonal area closure.

Life History and Habitat

Life history, including information on the habitat, growth, feeding, and reproduction of a species, is important because it affects how a fishery is managed. Management of the snapper grouper fishery is difficult due to lack of basic data on many species and because many of the species are slow-growing, late-maturing, and long-lived, so rebuilding efforts for some species will take years.

• Geographic range: In the Western Atlantic, ranging as far north as Massachusetts, to southeastern Brazil, including the eastern Gulf of Mexico
• Habitat: Juveniles live in shallow-water nearshore reefs. They prefer grass beds, rock formations, and shallow reefs. Adults generally occur over flat rock perforated with solution holes and are commonly found in the caverns and crevices of limestone reef in the Gulf of Mexico. They also occur over rocky reef bottoms. Red grouper are found at depths ranging from 16 to 984 feet.
• Life span: 29 years
• Food: Red grouper are unspecialized and opportunistic feeders, meaning they feed on whatever food is convenient at the time. They engulf prey whole by opening their mouth, dilating their gill covers, and rapidly drawing in a current of water, inhaling the food item. Their prey includes fish, crustaceans, cephalopods (like octopus, squid, etc.), and other invertebrates.
• Growth rate: Slow
• Maximum size: Red grouper grow up to 49 inches in total length and 50.7 pounds in weight.
• Reaches reproductive maturity: Most females are mature between the ages of 4 and 6.
• Reproduction: Red grouper are protogynous hermaphrodites, meaning they function as a female first and some later transition to males. Most females transform to males between the ages of 7 and 15. The proportion of males in the population increases with age. Fecundity (reproductive potential) ranges from 24,300 eggs in an 18 inch total length (TL) 5-year-old to 2,322,517 eggs in a 36 inch TL 21-year-old. Red grouper spawn frequently, about 26 times a year.
• Spawning season: February through June; peaks in April and May
• Spawning grounds: Red grouper spawn in offshore coastal waters at 69 to 361 feet.
• Migrations: Young do not move during their residence on nearshore reefs. Red grouper move offshore from shallower reef environments as they mature. Adults move extensively but their patterns of migration are unknown. Schooling or group movement among adults is also suspected.
• Predators: The same predators that eat snappers prey on smaller grouper, including jacks, other groupers, sharks, barracudas, and morays. Predators of adults include large sharks and large carnivorous marine mammals.
• Commercial or recreational interest: Both
• Distinguishing characteristics: Red grouper is a shallow-water grouper characterized by a robust body, large mouth with lower jaw often projecting slightly beyond the upper jaws, bands of slender, sharp teeth, and usually a few stout fixed canines. Its body scales are small. The color of its head and body is dark reddish brown, shading pink or reddish below.

Role in the Ecosystem

Red grouper are among the top predators in reef community food webs and may control some aspects of community balance in reef systems. They are unspecialized and opportunistic feeders, basically preying on any available fish, crustaceans, cephalopods, and other invertebrates. They ambush their prey and engulf it whole by opening their mouth, dilating the gill covers, and rapidly drawing in a current of water, inhaling the food item. Small red grouper are prey for jacks, other groupers, sharks, barracudas, and morays; large sharks and large carnivorous marine mammals prey on adult red grouper. Red grouper are known to make burrows and pile up debris in hard bottom areas which create habitats for other fish and invertebrate species.

Additional Information

Red grouper are highly sensitive to red tide organisms and can be locally eliminated due to the toxins from algal blooms.

Market name: Grouper
Vernacular names: Cherna Americana, Negre
Several other fish are also marketed as Grouper.

Biomass

Biomass refers to the amount of red grouper in the ocean. Scientists cannot collect and weigh every single fish to determine biomass, so they use models to estimate it instead. These biomass estimates can help determine if a stock is being fished too heavily or if it may be able to tolerate more fishing pressure. Managers can then make appropriate changes in the regulations of the fishery. According to the 2009 stock assessment update, Gulf of Mexico red grouper biomass has generally been increasing since 1986. South Atlantic biomass is currently unknown.

Landings

Landings refer to the amount of catch that is brought to land. Gulf of Mexico landings make up the majority of total red grouper landings and have been variable. Landings in the South Atlantic have remained low and fairly static.

Note: Both U.S. commercial and recreational landings are shown in the Gulf of Mexico graph. Only U.S. commercial landings are shown in the South Atlantic graph.

Biomass and Landings

Biomass and landings data can sometimes be used to detect trends in a fishery. They may influence each other, and factors such as changes in management measures, fishing effort, market preferences, or environmental conditions may impact landings and biomass as well.

Data sources:
Gulf of Mexico biomass and landings from Stock Assessment of Red Grouper in the Gulf of Mexico – 2009 Update

South Atlantic landings from NOAA Fisheries Service Annual Commercial Landing Statistics using "GROUPER, RED" as species and "ATLANTIC"

Important Dates

South Atlantic
1988 – Amendment 1 to Snapper Grouper FMP prohibits trawl gear in the directed snapper grouper fishery south of Cape Hatteras, N.C. and north of Cape Canaveral, F.L.
1991 – Amendment 4 establishes gear restrictions, bag limits, permit regulations, and a 20 inch total length minimum size for red grouper
1997 – Amendment 8 limits effort in the snapper grouper fishery
2008 – Council approves Amendment 16 to address overfishing of vermilion snapper, gag, red grouper, and black grouper
2009 – Amendment 14 establishes eight Type 2 marine protected areas (MPAs) in federal waters ranging from North Carolina to Florida; fishing for and possession of snapper and grouper is prohibited in these areas. Amendment 2 to the Atlantic Highly Migratory Species FMP also prohibits the use of shark bottom longline gear within each of the MPAs. The primary purpose of implementing these MPAs is to protect a portion of the population and habitat of long-lived deepwater snapper-grouper species from directed fishing pressure to achieve a more natural sex ratio, age, and size structure, while minimizing adverse social and economic effects.
2009 – Amendment 16 was partially approved and the final rule went into effect on July 29, 2009. The final rule established a closed commercial and recreational season for shallow water grouper from January to April, established a grouper aggregate bag limit of 3 fish per person, and requires the use of dehooking devices (as needed) to reduce bycatch mortality of snapper-grouper species

Gulf of Mexico
1984 – Reef Fish FMP approved
1990 – Amendment 1 to Reef Fish FMP sets objectives to stabilize long-term population levels of all reef fish species; establishes a 20-inch total length minimum size on red grouper, a quota, a framework for TAC, possession limits, bag limits, gear restrictions, permits, and fishing seasons
1991 – Regulatory amendment allows a one-time increase in the 1991 quota for shallow-water grouper from 9.2 million pounds to 9.9 million pounds to provide the commercial fishery an opportunity to harvest the 0.7 million pounds that were not harvested in 1990
1992 – Regulatory amendment raises the 1992 commercial quota for shallow-water grouper to 9.8 million pounds after a red grouper stock assessment indicated that the red grouper "spawning potential ratio" was substantially above the Council's minimum target
1992 – Amendment 4 establishes moratorium on new commercial reef fish permits for 3 years
1994 – Amendment 5 establishes gear restrictions, an SMZ off the Alabama coast, and a closed area and requires head and fins on all finfish landed (except oceanic migratory species); Amendment 9 extends reef fish permit moratorium
1997 – Amendment 14 provides for a 10-year phase-out of the fish trap fishery
1998 – Amendment 11 establishes proxies and benchmarks for determining overfished or overfishing status; establishes rebuilding time frame of less than 15 years for red grouper
2000 – Regulatory amendment prohibits the commercial sale of gag, black, and red grouper each year from February 15 to March 15 and establishes two marine reserves (Steamboat Lumps and Madison-Swanson) that are closed year-round to fishing for reef fish
2003 – Amendment 20 establishes 3-year moratorium on issuance of charter and head boat vessel permits
2004 – Secretarial Amendment 1 establishes a rebuilding plan with a commercial quota and a recreational target catch level and reduces the recreational bag limit to 2 fish per person per day; rebuilt target date is 2012
2005 – Amendment 18A addresses maximum crew size, use of reef fish for bait, commercial vessel monitoring systems, simultaneous commercial and recreational harvest, TAC framework changes, and sea turtle/smalltooth sawfish bycatch mortality measures; Amendment 24 replaces commercial reef fish permit moratorium with a permanent limited access system
2006 – Amendment 25 replaces for-hire permit moratorium with a permanent limited access system
2006 – Regulatory amendment establishes a 6,000 pound (2.7 metric ton) commercial trip limit to slow the rate of commercial harvest and extend the length of the fishing season
2006 – Regulatory amendment establishes a 1 red grouper bag limit and a one month recreational grouper closure; also prohibits captain and crew from retaining bag limits of grouper
2007 – Gulf Council releases scoping document for Amendment 30 which would set Optimum Yield TAC and management measures
2007 – Regulatory amendment reduces the red grouper bag limit in the Gulf to 1 per person per day; also prohibits captain and crew from retaining bag limits of grouper (all species) while under charter and establishes a February 15 to March 15 recreational closure for gag, black, and red grouper
2009 – Amendment 30B is implemented, revising red grouper harvest levels and management measures based on a recent stock assessment

Notes and Links

General Information:
NOAA Fisheries Service Southeast Fisheries Science Center Species Identification Information for Red Grouper

NOAA Fisheries Service Southeast Regional Office

South Atlantic Fishery Management Council

Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council

Fishery Management:
Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan and Amendments

South Atlantic Fishery Management Council Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (1983)

South Atlantic Fishery Management Council Summary of Snapper-Grouper Fishery Management Plan and Amendments

Stock Assessments:
Stock Assessment of Red Grouper in the Gulf of Mexico – 2009 Update

Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation Report (SAFE) for the Snapper Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic (2005)

Page last updated: October 20, 2009