an essential nursery habitat for the Atlantic goliath grouper and necessitate specific suitable water conditions to nurture healthy, sustained goliath grouper populations. Juvenile goliath groupers may remain in mangrove nursery habitats for 5 to 6 years before leaving towards deeper offshore reef habitats at around 1 meter in length. Reproduction The Atlantic goliath grouper has a longevity of 37 years and reaches first maturity after 6 years, which leads to an estimated generation length of 21.5 years. The species has been hypothesized to be protogynous hermaphrodites, but this has yet to be confirmed. Males become sexually mature at around in length, and at ages 4–6. Females mature at around , and at ages 6–8. The species has relatively small spawning aggregations of less than 150 individuals with no evidence of spawning outside of these aggregations. Conservation Atlantic goliath groupers are highly susceptible to rapid population decline due to overfishing and the exploitation of spawning aggregations. The species has a brief annual larval settlement period, making the species' abundance extremely vulnerable to outside factors such as poor weather conditions. High mercury concentrations in older males may lead to liver damage and/or death and reduce egg viability. The degradation of mangroves, which serve as an important nursery habitat for the species provide a major threat to juvenile survival. The species was previously classified as critically endangered in 2011 and is currently classified as vulnerable in 2021. A 2016 stock assessment model indicates that there has been an absolute population reduction of around 33% from 1950 to 2014. There has been a complete moratorium on the fishing of this species in continental U.S. waters since 1990 and in U.S. Caribbean waters since 1993. In October 2021, Florida Fish and Wildlife proposed to allow the fishing of 200 juvenile goliath grouper per year including up to 50 from Everglades National Park. Recreational fishing of the species would be permitted in all state waters except those of Palm Beach County south through the Atlantic coast of the Keys. The proposal was approved in March 2022, with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission planning to issue 200 permits per year through a lottery system, which comes into effect in the spring of 2023. References External links Florida Museum of Natural History description including alternate names Epinephelus Fish of the Atlantic Ocean Fish of Cuba Fish of the Dominican Republic Sport fish Fish described in 1822 Taxa