Lobby group Friends of Fish is asking Government to add the black rockfish - a favourite target of spearfishing enthusiasts - to the list of protected species.

But, according to senior fisheries officer, Brian Lockhurst, fairly strong restrictions already exist in terms of limiting the size and quantity of the fish - a member of the grouper family - taken out of Bermuda's waters.

Changes to the regulatory regime which would further protect the rockfish cannot be ruled out in the future, however - Dr. Lockhurst told The Royal Gazette that his department is keeping a close eye on developments with the fish and will recommend changes if it is found to be necessary.

"This is the one fish that grows to the largest possible size," said Friends of Fish president Ian Murdoch. That fact makes it a target for those who fish as a sport, but Mr. Murdoch says it is time for a policy rethink because while the black rockfish is one of two in the grouper family which is not protected, it is still an endangered species - a status made worse by the "selective predation" of the spearfishing enthusiasts.

"Here we have spearfishing contests which encourage people to target the largest fish in the ocean," he told The Royal Gazette. The black rockfish is not protected because it is making a very marginal recovery.

Spearfishing is a "fairly active hobby on the Island", Mr. Murdoch told The Royal Gazette. "Nowadays, strangely enough, they go out specifically for grouper."

Friends of Fish is concerned because the species are born female, changing gender at a certain stage when males are in short supply. The males grow to the largest size and "if you remove the large males there's no way the females can spawn", Mr. Murdoch said. And the females will turn to males earlier in their development, "so you end up with smaller males."

Mr. Murdoch said that his group is encouraging those who catch grouper to consider another type of fish.

Last week, this newspaper reported on firefighter Mitch Rawlins' catch of a 102 pound rockfish. Mr. Murdoch made it clear that his group's efforts are not targeted so much at people like Mr. Rawlins who catch grouper to put food on the table, but rather the spearfishing enthusiasts who do it for fun.

But, he said: "My final plea to Mr. Rawlins is to understand the significance of taking large males. Our request to him is maybe try some other fish.

"Generally speaking the Government is in tune to trying to protect stock - there is a definite indication that they are trying to protect grouper stocks," he said.

Doug Patterson, manager of Makin Waves which sells spears, guessed the number of spearfishing enthusiasts on the Island at around 200.

"It's not a huge market but we do sell spears all the time," Mr. Patterson said.

Dr. Lockhurst explained that of all the grouper species only two are not subject to full protection status - the black rockfish and the yellowfin grouper, known locally as "monkey fish".

But severe restrictions exist, he said. Catches are limited to one fish per boat per day for everybody whether line or spearfishing, he said.

"The other regulation we have in place has to do with minimum size" - 75 centimetres for black rockfish and 50 centimetres for yellowfin grouper to reflect the fact that they don't grow as large as the rockfish.

"The idea is to ensure you don't allow fish to be caught before they have a chance to spawn."

The current regulations date back to 1996 and were based on analysis of landing statistics, anecdotal information and scientific studies, said Dr. Lockhurst.

"We felt these other species that are completely protected were sufficiently scarce that we should not allow any take at all. The idea was to try to build up the stock again whereas in the case of the two species we imposed fairly severe restrictions."

"We felt that kind of harvest level could be sustained. But I should add these matters are really subject to ongoing review and if we see trouble then we will act to amend those levels."