We are excited to share a conservation success story for the critically endangered Nassau Grouper. After nearly two decades of research and monitoring efforts, the Grouper Moon team published key results last month in the prestigious journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers used tagging and video survey data, collected by our team over the last 15 years at spawning aggregations in the Cayman Islands, to estimate changes in the number of critically endangered Nassau Grouper. In both Little Cayman and Cayman Brac, Nassau Grouper aggregations have more than tripled in response to adaptive management by the Cayman Islands government. On Little Cayman, the aggregating population grew from around 1,200 fish in 2009 to over 7,000 in 2018. This study is the first to show sustained recovery of Nassau Grouper populations following fisheries-induced collapse. The paper was highlighted with the cover of the journal, showing a stunning photo of a Nassau Grouper (taken by Tiago Peixoto) and the byline "Conservation of Nassau grouper". To find out more about the Grouper Moon Project and to read the full article, visit www.REEF.org/groupermoonproject.
