By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO – News came over the Internet about a Florida man being arrested on Wednesday after he was found in possession of a still living Goliath Grouper which he had caught off a bridge in Islamorada. Goliath Groupers, which can grow to 800 pounds, are a protected species. The one he caught was of ordinary size, not much bigger than a fisherman’s basket – maybe just a baby.
Remembering the story of David and Goliath, I wondered why I had never heard of a Goliath Grouper before. I thought it interesting that this one was caught in a place called Islamorada, which I took to be a Muslim reference of some sort.
Trusty Wikipedia taught me that the Goliath Grouper was the giant fish once called a “jewfish” until so many of our people complained that the name was insensitive that the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) decided to abandon the name.
There had been many theories why the giant grouper had been called the jewfish. Some thought it was a mispronunciation of the name “jawfish.” Others thought that the visage of the fish looked somehow semitic, at least in the way that Nazi publications like Der Sturmer portrayed us Jews. Still other people thought that the jewfish might have been the giant fish in the Biblical tale that swallowed Jonah. In truth, there were many theories, none more correct than the others.
So, in what might have been humor, or spite, someone at NOAA decided to take the name of the fish rejected by us Jews and give it to our arch-Biblical enemies, the Philistines. Goliath, a giant of a man, was their warrior champion until cut down by a stone slung by little David.
How was it, I wondered, that the name of the venue in Florida became known as Islamorada? Had this location in the Florida Keys become home to many people of the Muslim faith?
Again, it was Wikipedia to the rescue. “Islamorada” is a contraction for the Spanish words “Isla” and “morada,” translating to “purple Island.” The fact that “I-s-l-a-m” constitutes the first five letters of the word is purely coincidental.
Another factoid that I picked up from Wikipedia: After he retired from baseball, the great Boston Red Sox slugger (and former San Diegan) Ted Williams (1918-2002) moved to Islamorada and over the years took numerous guests on local fishing trips.
I bet his fellow anglers had never heard of a Goliath Grouper either.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.