Anglers who can testify to increasing numbers of Goliath grouper now include Rodney Barreto of Key Largo, chairman of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.</p><p>"I was just off Cape Sable and Flamingo and caught four or five myself," said Barreto, a Miami businessman and lobbyist. "They were all sizes, up to about 40 pounds."</p><p>Fishermen and charter captains with similar accounts often approach Barreto to ask: When are they going to be able to keep a Goliath grouper?</p><p>"I hear about it every day," Barreto said. "I hear it when I'm down there [in the Keys], too."</p><p>At the FWC's September meeting in Central Florida, Barreto expressed displeasure that promised studies of the Goliath grouper -- formerly known as jewfish -- are far from completion.</p><p>"We're caught in the dark hole of the federal government, who are our partners" in fishery management, Barreto said Tuesday.</p><p>"Any decision we make on Goliath grouper certainly must be made based on the science," Barreto said. "We want them to get the science so we can make the decision. But the feds hold all the cards."</p><p>Goliath grouper have been off limits to legal harvesting since 1990, when biologists said the slow-growing fish were in danger of disappearing. Anglers who catch a Goliath grouper must release it alive.</p><p>In light of a recent population rebound, many recreational fishermen have urged the state to approve some type of limited catch program for Goliath grouper.</p><p>Fishermen from some areas, particularly off Southwest Florida, contend the ravenous grouper -- which can reach 600 pounds -- are devouring desirable food fish along with lobster and crabs.</p><p>If the Goliath grouper population has reached sustainable levels, Barreto said, "we might want to take a look at some type of limited take, maybe through a special permit or something."</p><p>Chris Koenig of the Reef Fish Ecology Group at the Florida State Coastal and Marine Laboratory in St. Teresa Beach, said it's far too soon to declare the Goliath grouper has safely recovered.</p><p>"It definitely seems anti-productive to take a species that has just started to come back from the brink and start killing them before we know how many there are," said Koenig, considered a leading expert on Goliath grouper.</p><p>Assertions that the big grouper damage the reef ecosystem by overeating "is ridiculous," Koenig said.</p><p>"It's not that there are too many Goliath grouper, it's that everything else has been overfished to low levels," he said.</p><p>Koenig said his research indicates more than half of the Goliath grouper's diet consists of crabs -- not the lobster or snapper often cited as the fish's main prey.</p><p>Southwest Florida likely has the healthiest population of Goliath grouper because the region has the most undeveloped mangroves, which are critical for the survival of juveniles in the species.</p><p>Capt. Steve Lamp of Dream Catcher Charters in Key West said he enjoys seeing his customers catch Goliath grouper, but he is no rush to filet one.</p><p>"I'd say that now, we catch at least one jewfish every day," Lamp said. "And I love each and every one of them that we get to play with. I'm delighted to have them in our fishery."</p><p>Lamp said he would not object to a Goliath grouper tag program, similar to the $50 fee for taking a tarpon, but does not want to see widespread harvest.</p><p>"When kids see that fish with a big mouth coming up from the depths, they get so excited," Lamp said. "On a slow day, that makes the trip."