The project aims to assess the situation of the populations of grouper Epinephelus marginatus and grouper Polyprion americanus, in danger of disappearing on the Spanish coast.

The project aims to assess the situation of the populations of grouper Epinephelus marginatus and grouper Polyprion americanus, in danger of disappearing on the Spanish coast.

For their recovery, captive reproduction is proposed, as a strategy to achieve their subsequent repopulation.

Four phases will be developed.

1. In the first phase, statistical information on grouper and grouper fishing will be collected, both in fish markets and in sport fishing.
2. In phase II, the breeding stock with which to work in the following stages will be captured, a male in the Mongrí Natural Park (les Illes Medesi el Baix Ter) and five immature females, and hormonal studies will be carried out.
3. Phase III will consist of the preparation of a proposal for initiatives to be applied for the recovery of these species in their natural habitat.
4. Finally, all the information obtained will be disseminated through scientific conferences, electronic media and publications.

The initiative aims to cover four specific targets for the grouper Epinephelus marginatus and the grouper Polyprion americanus in four phases of implementation:

• Assessment of the status of the two grouper species on the Spanish coast through fishing data and in situ observations.
• Captive reproduction of the two species for repopulation, through the housing of wild specimens under controlled conditions. Sex hormones will be used in order to induce the final maturation of females in both cases and the sexual inversion of these to males, in the case of Epinephelus marginatus.
• Proposal of a baseline for the protection of these species according to the information collected.
• Dissemination of the baseline for the protection of these species at a scientific and informative level, through the celebration of scientific conferences, dissemination through the web, social networks, blog, publication of an informative book for schools and other actions.