Brazil's Goliath Grouper, Once Fished to Critical Danger, Now Has 256 Individually Identified Fish and a Citizen-Science Army Behind It

The Atlantic goliath grouper is the largest grouper in the Atlantic and is critically endangered in Brazil. Projeto Meros do Brasil, running since 2002, works with nine teaching and research institutions across nine coastal states and 37 municipalities on research, environmental education and citizen science. Its 2021-2023 results include 256 individually identified groupers, 818 citizen-science sighting records, 3,198 people trained and 1,585 km of coastline monitored across 21 marine protected areas. The project was still publishing news in October 2026, including a spring alert asking people to report stranded groupers.