Red grouper returns to menus as population rebounds

In 2007, Richard Gonzmart yanked red grouper from the menu at his family's six Columbia Restaurants.

At the time, Gonzmart was becoming more aware of the sustainability of fish populations and worried that demand from customers was contributing to overfishing of the popular species in the Gulf of Mexico. As the restaurant group's president, he also had concerns that the filets he was buying were imposters.

A letter from Florida's attorney general applauded his environmental awareness.

"It just wasn't worth it for our reputation, so I took it off," he said.

That hiatus is over. This week, red grouper returned to the Columbia's menu after the four-year absence. Customers can order it five ways at dinner: grilled; stuffed with lump blue crab meat; baked in a casserole; Russian-style; and smothered with olive oil, onions and garlic in a Greek-flavored presentation.

The reason for the about-face: the Gulf's red grouper population is back to healthy levels after years of federal management of the fishery.

The population is strong enough that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service plans to increase the maximum amount commercial fishing operations can haul from the water to 5.2 million pounds, up from the 4.3 million it established at the beginning of 2011.

That's a big change from as recently as 2005, when grouper fisheries were closed and restaurants were forced to scramble for alternatives.

Grouper fishermen wanted a better way to manage the fishery, so they worked with the federal agency to create a program modeled on one used in 2005 to manage red snapper.

The commercial fishery for grouper is managed using an individual fishing quota. All commercial fishermen who participate are told at the beginning of the year how many pounds of red and black grouper, also known as gag grouper, they are allowed to catch. They can decide when to go out to catch them and also are allowed to sell their shares to other fishermen.

"Reds were never depleted to a great extent, but they were slightly below the level they were supposed to be at," said Roy E. Crabtree, regional administrator of the NOAA Fisheries Service's Southeast Regional Office in St. Petersburg.

About 95 percent of red and gag grouper is landed off Florida's Gulf Coast. Most of that is hauled from waters off Tampa Bay.

"Red grouper is doing better and has recovered, so we're increasing the catch levels on the population," Crabtree said.

The same cannot be said for gag grouper. Red tide and overfishing forced managers this year to limit commercial fishing to just 100,000 pounds for the Gulf of Mexico -- a drastic reduction from historic levels that have been as high as 2 million pounds annually. Most of those fish were caught in January and February.

This month, the 17-member regional Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, which reports to the national agency, approved a rebuilding plan for the gag population. Commercial fishermen have disputed surveys of Gulf grouper, saying the populations are in greater abundance than what is officially acknowledged. As a result, an additional 300,000 pounds of gag grouper have been added to this year's quota.

Even when both types are healthy, reds are more likely to be the one filling a grouper sandwich because they are easier to catch. Unlike gags, which tend to use rocky bottom and outcroppings as habitat, reds prefer sandy bottom and open water. Commercial fishermen are able to use a long line to catch red grouper instead of a single hook used for gags.

Not that it makes much difference to consumers. Only a connoisseur could tell the difference between a red grouper, whose flesh tends to be firmer, and a gag grouper, which some say has more flavor.

Either way, the demand for grouper shows no sign of slowing. During a recent week, 7,500 pounds of grouper were devoured by the Clearwater-based Frenchy's chain of restaurants.

During spring break, Frenchy's Rockaway Grill goes through 300 to 400 pounds of filets a day as it serves baked stuffed grouper, Grouper Santorini and its marquee Super Grouper Sandwich

Almost all of Frenchy's grouper is red grouper, said Tommy Shook, the seafood company general manager. Only 100 pounds of the 7,500 pounds Frenchy's used in that recent week was gag grouper.

Red grouper has never left the menu at Frenchy's, but the restaurants have been serving more of it recently as gag grouper supplies have decreased.

The in-house Frenchy's Seafood Co. contracts with 11 boats to provide a steady supply of grouper. Workers sort the fish by size, then filet and take the cheek meat from the fish. The fish is then delivered to the restaurants for service that day or the next.

Filleting the grouper takes work, but it's worth it to the restaurant to know how the fish was handled and that it is indeed a grouper.

"There are a handful of things we're famous for, and the grouper sandwich is one of them," Shook said. "It's as fresh as it could possibly be. Fish comes off boats, not trucks."