They are at the top of the marine food chain, but Man has been in charge of making the grouper an endangered species on the Algarve coast. Now, little by little, there is the intention to make this fish, very docile, return to inhabit the waters of the Algarve, not only for ecological purposes, but also for tourism, since this is one of the favorite animals of divers who arrive traveling hundreds of kilometers to have the opportunity to meet them.
To achieve this end, the IPMA (Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere) released, this Monday, off Quarteira, 100 meros, in an initiative accompanied by Sul Informação. Fishing boats, more used to removing fish from the ocean, did exactly the opposite and returned these 100 animals, raised at the Olhão Pisciculture Pilot Station (EPPO), to their natural habitat.
The groupers, who live in holes in the rocks, were released "on several local rocks: in Balancial de Fora, Balancial de Terra, Carocho, Joaquim Tomás, Pedra Nova and Loulé Velho," explained to our newspaper Pedro Lino, IPMA researcher, who coordinated the action.
If these places seem strange to you, you can take a look at the toponymy map of the Algarve's seas, to locate yourself.
“The objective is to carry out repopulation experiments with this species, which is very important for the food chain, because it is a top predator, but also because it is in danger of extinction, in an area where it was once very important”, said Pedro Lino.
In addition to the ecological perspective, «the immediate attraction is diving. This is an emblematic species that makes any diver feel satisfied when he finds it. Then there is an advantage: the grouper, when adopting a hole in a rock, starts to live in that place. When a dive is organized to that location, it is guaranteed that the diver will feel satisfied».
Groupers are animals that do not fear predators and this has helped them to be, at the moment, at risk of disappearing from the Algarve coast. «The Algarve coast is an area with intense fishing, and then, as it is a top predator, it exists in low density and is not afraid of other predators, namely human beings. When a diver or a spearfisher approaches, he goes to them, and that's often the end of him», explains the researcher.
The fact that fishermen and shipowners, namely through Armalgarve – Association of Polvo Fishing Owners of the Algarve, are involved in this project, including participating in the choice of the places where the groupers were released, is highlighted by Pedro Lino: «the threats that led to the risk of extinction of the groupers are still active and that is why we are doing this in collaboration with the associations of fishermen and shipowners and diving, to appeal to people who are in contact with this fish, to give it a chance. If they capture him alive, let him be released and, if he is dead, let us know the information».
The possibility of contacting IPMA, if a fisherman or diver finds one of these groupers, is facilitated because each one «has an individual tag with a number. We know where we left them and the objective is to know if they are staying where we released them or if they are moving to other places. This brand has our telephone number, so that anyone who finds one of these fish can report what they saw».
Publicizing the places where the groupers were released is, for Pedro Lino, “a double-edged sword. If we don't disclose it, we don't get the information back and we end up without feedback. If we publicize it, we run the risk of people going there to fish deliberately", not least because, in the case of spearfishing, "it is a trophy, due to its very large size, but not because of the difficulty of capturing it".
Commercially, the grouper has "a lot of value", but a low profitability, according to the researcher from IPMA. “At the aquaculture station, we managed to produce these fish, but they are not profitable. In four years, they are 1,5 kilos, they are not growing fast. But, in the future, it is not known, as the wild fish decreases… Now the possibility of making sardines is being considered, which here a few years ago was silly…», he concludes.
For this Tuesday, the release of another 50 groupers was scheduled, off Armação de Pêra, but, due to the Southeast, the action was postponed.
See the photos of the release of the meres, authored by students of the Professional Photography course at ETIC_Algarve:
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