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Posted By: Marty A Fish Story With No Exaggerations - 01/20/11 03:36 PM
Today Lloyd Brakeman, a fisherman of the Belize City, went out to sea for the first time this year and he didn't do that badly because he pulled in a mammoth Jewfish that he said weighed roughly two hundred pounds. Brakeman told us that he caught the fish about a mile out from shore:

Andrea Polanco
"You said it was just one mile from here; normally you would have caught that size of fish in that area?"

Lloyd Brakeman
"Yes, they have certain place where they live, it has to be an under bank."

Andrea Polanco
"How did you catch it?"

Lloyd Brakeman
"Well you just normally catch a cat fish and you hook it on the line and through it out, and you sit and wait until it bites."

Andrea Polanco
"So when it bites, did you figure it was going to be this big?"

Lloyd Brakeman
"Well, sometimes you get bigger than this, you know, but it's better than none at all."

Andrea Polanco
"How much does this one weigh?"

Lloyd Brakeman
"I would say roughly about 200 lbs."

Andrea Polanco
"What! So you are going to make something off this fish definitely."

Lloyd Brakeman
"Well, Yes I'll make something."

Andrea Polanco
"Tell me something Lloyd, you caught bigger fish than this before or this is one of the biggest fish you ever caught?"

Lloyd Brakeman
"No, I have caught bigger than this, much bigger, this is just a medium size I would say."

Andrea Polanco
"All right, but you would have to say this New Year started off good because this one is big."

Lloyd Brakeman
"Yes I would say that is the truth, this is the first day I went out for the year."

Brakeman has been a fisherman for twenty-two years.

Channel 7

Posted By: Johnny18 Re: A Fish Story With No Exaggerations - 01/20/11 11:12 PM
I am just curious....is the "Jewfish" (Goliath Grouper) not a protected species in Belize?

From Wikipedia...."The goliath grouper is entirely protected from harvest and is recognized as a critically endangered species by the World Conservation Union (IUCN).[1] The U.S. began protection in 1990, and the Caribbean in 1993.
Posted By: Johnny18 Re: A Fish Story With No Exaggerations - 01/21/11 01:51 AM
Never mind.....someone else on another forum answered my question.

http://www.int-res.com/articles/esr2009/7/n007p195.pdf

From what I discerned from this....they are NOT protected, but definately should be.
Posted By: Marty Re: A Fish Story With No Exaggerations - 01/21/11 04:35 PM
from a friend...

Yes, Goliath Groupers ARE critically endangered, and the media should not have extolled someone who caught one - especially a BIG one that could have sired (or mothered, if that's the word for fish) a whole lot of other Goliath Groupers. (The bigger the fish the more offspring they produce.)

Of course, the media would have had to know this, which would have meant doing some research.

And, any fishermen worth his "salt" knows this about Goliath Groupers and show know better than to brag about catching such a big one these days - even though it isn't illegal. (Not everything that isn't illegal is right, you know.)
Posted By: Marty Re: A Fish Story With No Exaggerations - 01/21/11 04:35 PM
from another friend....

Maybe the news people could follow up on the story and use this as a teaching moment. If the fisherman sold or made a nice che chak (fish soup) to feed his family, I can't say I blame him. He's probably an endangered specie too....

Interesting info about grouper found here, especially 'bout their reproduction...

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/gallery/descript/goliathgrouper/goliathgrouper.html

Many groupers are protogynous hermaphrodites - a condition in which individuals first mature as females only later to become males. And although goliath grouper are assumed to conform to this reproductive mode, a 1992 study of the age, growth, and reproduction of the species found no transitional individuals, the most direct evidence of sex reversal. However, the significance of this finding is of diminished value when one considers that transitional individuals are known to be rare amongst confirmed species of protogynous hermaphrodites, such as the red grouper (Epinephelus morio) and gag (Mycteroperca microlepis). Additionally, exceptions to the rule of protogyny within a species may be common. One author offers three potential exceptions that may explain why some sexually mature male goliath groupers are smaller than some mature females - a scenario that at first would seem to be contradictory for a protogynous hermaphrodite.

1) An individual's failure to recognize certain environmental cues or the absence of those environmental cues altogether may mean that sex change is never initiated.

2) Some females may transition to the male condition prematurely, i.e., they never attain sexual maturity as a female.

3) The size at sex reversal may vary amongst populations.

In support of the notion that the species is a protogynous hermaphrodite is the fact that the largest goliath groupers are invariably male.
Posted By: Judyann H. Re: A Fish Story With No Exaggerations - 01/21/11 05:58 PM
From A personal standpoint this is sad.....I really enjoy when diving and one of these Giant Groupers decides to join me...I have been blessed with the company of these Goliath fish staying so close as to bump me from time to time....I could not imagine fishing one out of the water.....There like big sleepy dogs who like the company of divers...
Posted By: Kayo Re: A Fish Story With No Exaggerations - 01/21/11 10:19 PM
I wonder if this is the same Lloyd Brakeman, of Belize City:

Pregnant Mother Murdered by Boyfriend

posted (November 22, 2004)

A pregnant mother of 6 was killed on the holiday weekend.

Alfonso Noble Reporting: On Saturday at around 5:30 Irene Gibson was at her home here at the corner of Alexandria and Bagdad streets when a gunshot rang out. Next a bloodied Lloyd Brakeman, Irene's common law husband stumbled out of the house...

http://www.7newsbelize.com/sstory.php?nid=1907&frmsrch=1
Posted By: Johnny18 Re: A Fish Story With No Exaggerations - 01/23/11 01:41 AM
Some of the articles that I have read lead me to believe that this fish, although quite large, is only half way to full maturity. Goliath Groupers, it seems, when fully mature normally weigh in at about 400 lbs.
Posted By: seashell Re: A Fish Story With No Exaggerations - 01/28/11 08:24 AM
I'm with Marty's friend(s). When I first read the post about the "catch", my response was extreme sadness.
Posted By: elbert Re: A Fish Story With No Exaggerations - 01/28/11 02:26 PM
Love it the Jew fish got its name changed to someone killed by the Israeli army :-)
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