Promising Recaptures of Tagged Redfish » News

In October 2003, 200 Sebastes mentella were tagged with the Underwater Tagging Equipment (UTE) made by Star-Oddi, about 150 nautical miles Southwest of Reykjanes-Ridge, on the research vessel Bjarni Sæmundsson by the Marine Research Institute in Iceland (MRI). By now, 2 fishes have been recaptured, the first only 4 days after tagging. As the first tag was observed during processing of the fish, no information about the recapture place or the condition of the fish is available.

On January 21 a second fish was recaptured only 2.2 nautical miles from the area where it was tagged. According to Thorsteinn Sigurdsson the project manager from MRI the fish was tagged on October 25 at a depth of 504 meters. When recaptured, the fish was 40 cm in length and 830 grams in weight. It was a mature female with developed ovary, and would probably have spawned in March if it had not been caught now. When investigating the fish, nothing visibly indicated that the fish was any different from untagged fish of this size and time of the year. Therefore we conclude that the tagging did not affect its life expectancy much compared with untagged ones. Injuries due to the tagging had started to heal and there were no indications of swelling around the wound. Furthermore, no indications of internal damages due to the tagging were observed.

The main reason for MRI's interest is associated with the unknown stock structure of Sebastes mentella redfish, stock components in the Irminger Sea and along the shelf and slopes of Iceland, Greenland and the Faeroe Islands. As long as the stock structure and possible interrelation between possible stock components remain unknown, it will always be difficult to assess the status of the stock(s) and to give reliable advice on how to manage this important resource.