Whilst out poppering last week we landed an average sized GT which had some rather nasty looking gashes on its back. Possibly picked a fight with a shark or big barracuda...hard to say. Whatever caused them, the cuts didn't seem to deter the GT actively feeding on our popper !
We snapped off a hasty pic and released this fish as quickly as possible and it swam away seemingly as happy as Larry.
Distinctive gashes on the backThe next day we happened to be passing the same area in Bite Me and having seen a pack of GTs there the previous day we decided to toss a few poppers in the same area. We hooked a GT in exactly the same spot as the previous day. In fact, it turned out to be exactly the same GT !
Same fish !We have long suspected that we sometimes recapture fish but the distinctive marks on this fish left little doubt. It is, I believe, widely accepted that GTs arenot only slow growing but territorial and stake their claim to a particular bommie or stretch of the reef, fending off others who might wander in.
It follows therefore, if you go out, catch GTs and don't release them, you can wipe out a population in an area.
Release the GT !
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