Scientists tag fish in experiments to record migratory behaviour, growth and fishing catch rates. Most of the commercial species have been subject to tagging on all of the major fishing grounds, so there is always the chance of finding a tagged fish wherever you are fishing.
Mark and recapture experiments using conventional (non-electric) tags provide a valuable insight into the structure of stocks, mixing of stocks and the implications of both for fishery management. Estimation of fishing mortality can be provided by appropriately designed tagging studies.
Electronic data storage tag (DST) development allows scientists to continuously record the horizontal and vertical movements of individual animals between the points of release and recapture and are also being used to study how their behaviour is affected by environmental variables such as temperature.
DSTs electronic tags are equipped with depth and temperature as basic sensors. Other sensors available are salinity, GPS, compass, pitch and roll. The detailed information is recorded in the memory of the DST along with date and time of each measurement. The data can be used to reconstruct the movements of the fish between release and recapture, geolocation in addition to shedding light on behavioural characteristics. They are either placed internally or attached externally to the fish depending on species and size of tag. After recapture the data is downloaded and can be combined with tidal cycles and models of water movement to deduce the movement of the fish between release and recapture positions.
Below tags and marks have been grouped logically. Click on a link you want to follow.
Electronic Tags
External Tags
External Marks
Internal Tags
Internal External Marks
Tagging Methods for Stock assessment and research in Fisheries
Report of Concerted Action (CATAG)
Information gathered from http://www.hafro.is/catag/
Warning! Some of these files are large. Having ISDN or ADSL or faster is recommended.
Click here on the pictures and view a video clip
External tagging with DST GPS tag:
Here you can see the scientist tag a brown trout and his cowerker using a Star-Oddi portable GPS transmitter.
Internal tagging of cod with DST GPS tag:
Click on the picture to view the video clip
View a short animation (mpeg) of the GPS system (5 Mb).
This is a the DST GPS system when the Simrad sonar is used onboard a research vessel in large geographic areas.
Links to interesting websites
Our site www.star-oddi.com
Marine and Freshwater Research Institutions
www.cefas.co.uk/homepage.htm
www.hafro.is/index_eng.php
www.imr.no/english/
www.noaa.org/
www.veidimal.is/english/englishmain.htm
Organisations and Commissions
www.salmonatsea.com/ International Atlantic Salmon Research Board
www.ibsfc.org/ International Baltic Sea Fishery Commission
www.iccat.es/ International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas
www.ices.dk/ International Council for the Exploration of the Sea
www.nasco.int/ North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization
www.neafc.org/ North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission
www.nafo.ca/ Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization
www.npafc.org/ North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission
www.psc.org/ Pacific Salmon Commission
www.pices.int/ North Pacific Marine Science Organization
www.fisheries.org/ American Fisheries Society
Equipment and Technology
http://www.simrad.com/
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