Dr. Richard Nemeth and his team document both the slow recovery of Nassau grouper in the U.S. Virgin Islands and illegal trapping of this endangered species in the Marine Conservation District.

Groupers, and a wide variety of other reef fish such as snappers, triggerfish and grunts, migrate long distances from their home sites to certain locations for spawning events which take place in large groups, or aggregations.

The Grammanik Bank, located just south of St. Thomas, is also the only known spawning location in the region for critically endangered Nassau grouper. The Nassau grouper spawning aggregation at the Grammanik Bank is a very special place. The US Virgin Islands are very fortunate because this is the only location in the entire Caribbean where Nassau grouper have shown signs of recovering

With vigilance, education and regulations, Nassau grouper stocks may once again be plentiful.