03-23-2003, 06:31 PM
[font "arial, helvetica, sans-serif"][#003366]Fish Tagging and Marking[/#003366][/font]
[font "arial, helvetica, sans-serif"][black]So the fish you caught -- perhaps a big chinook salmon or maybe a handsome walleye -- has some small tag affixed to its jaw, or maybe it's missing one or another of its fins. You think, what the heck is this?
Chances are pretty good that the fish you landed is one that's been marked or tagged by a Department of Natural Resources (DNR) biologist or researcher intent upon scientific study. The DNR (and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) are continually evaluating the migration, survival and harvest of various Michigan fish stocks to provide more and healthier fish to sport anglers. This evaluation often involves marking fish with a fin clip, external tag and sometimes even an internal tag.
[#006400]What tags can tell us[/#006400]
Fisheries managers and researchers mark or tag fish (and other aquatic animals) in hopes of learning: [ul] [li]when, where and how fish stocks are being utilized by sport or commercial fisheries [li]migration patterns including the path and distance of migration, rate of movement and homing tendencies of a particular species [li]behavior, including factors limiting abundance such as preferred habitat and intra/inter-species interaction [li]age and growth of fish [li]mortality rates (to judge the effects of natural and angling mortality) [li]relative abundance [li]stocking success -- or lack thereof -- of hatchery-reared fish. [/li][/ul]
Although history doesn't tell us precisely when the tagging and marking of fish began, we do know that several centuries ago wealthy European landholders tagged the trout and salmon living in their private waters. Here in the U.S., fish were apparently first tagged in 1873 as part of a study on Atlantic salmon done in Maine. Over the intervening century-plus, much has been written about marking fish and many a study performed.
[#006400]If you catch a tagged fish...[/#006400]
A very important study currently under way with which Michigan anglers can help is tracking chinook salmon and steelhead. Many of these fish have been marked with a small coded wire tag, invisible to the naked eye, implanted in the head of the fish. Researchers hope, during the open-water fishing season ahead, to collect sufficient heads of such so-called "micro-tagged" fish to learn more about these fish stocks in the lakes.
Chinook and steelhead containing these tags may be identified by the absence of the adipose fin.![[Image: Laketrt_35585_7.gif]](http://www.michigan.gov/images/Laketrt_35585_7.gif)
If you should catch a fish missing this fin, it might well bear a micro-tag. If you could freeze the head of the fish (and only the head) and take it to (or notify) the nearest [url "http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153--21107--,00.html"][#0000ff]DNR Operations Service Center[/#0000ff][/url] it would be greatly appreciated.
In return, the DNR will send you a "history" of the fish you caught. Each year, nearly 6,000 specially tagged fish heads are returned to the DNR by anglers fishing Lakes Huron and Michigan.
If you catch a fish with an external tag bearing the letters DNR, FWS or OMNR, please notify the nearest [url "http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153--21107--,00.html"][#0000ff]DNR office[/#0000ff][/url], and tell them: [ul] [li]the species caught [li]length [li]weight [li]sex (if possible) [li]date caught and location [li]tag number [/li][/ul]
If you are releasing the fish, DO NOT REMOVE THE TAG.
[url "http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10364-44584--,00.html"][#0000ff]Read more about marked and tagged fish[/#0000ff][/url][/black][/font]
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[font "arial, helvetica, sans-serif"][black]So the fish you caught -- perhaps a big chinook salmon or maybe a handsome walleye -- has some small tag affixed to its jaw, or maybe it's missing one or another of its fins. You think, what the heck is this?
Chances are pretty good that the fish you landed is one that's been marked or tagged by a Department of Natural Resources (DNR) biologist or researcher intent upon scientific study. The DNR (and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) are continually evaluating the migration, survival and harvest of various Michigan fish stocks to provide more and healthier fish to sport anglers. This evaluation often involves marking fish with a fin clip, external tag and sometimes even an internal tag.
[#006400]What tags can tell us[/#006400]
Fisheries managers and researchers mark or tag fish (and other aquatic animals) in hopes of learning: [ul] [li]when, where and how fish stocks are being utilized by sport or commercial fisheries [li]migration patterns including the path and distance of migration, rate of movement and homing tendencies of a particular species [li]behavior, including factors limiting abundance such as preferred habitat and intra/inter-species interaction [li]age and growth of fish [li]mortality rates (to judge the effects of natural and angling mortality) [li]relative abundance [li]stocking success -- or lack thereof -- of hatchery-reared fish. [/li][/ul]
Although history doesn't tell us precisely when the tagging and marking of fish began, we do know that several centuries ago wealthy European landholders tagged the trout and salmon living in their private waters. Here in the U.S., fish were apparently first tagged in 1873 as part of a study on Atlantic salmon done in Maine. Over the intervening century-plus, much has been written about marking fish and many a study performed.
[#006400]If you catch a tagged fish...[/#006400]
A very important study currently under way with which Michigan anglers can help is tracking chinook salmon and steelhead. Many of these fish have been marked with a small coded wire tag, invisible to the naked eye, implanted in the head of the fish. Researchers hope, during the open-water fishing season ahead, to collect sufficient heads of such so-called "micro-tagged" fish to learn more about these fish stocks in the lakes.
Chinook and steelhead containing these tags may be identified by the absence of the adipose fin.
If you should catch a fish missing this fin, it might well bear a micro-tag. If you could freeze the head of the fish (and only the head) and take it to (or notify) the nearest [url "http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153--21107--,00.html"][#0000ff]DNR Operations Service Center[/#0000ff][/url] it would be greatly appreciated. In return, the DNR will send you a "history" of the fish you caught. Each year, nearly 6,000 specially tagged fish heads are returned to the DNR by anglers fishing Lakes Huron and Michigan.
If you catch a fish with an external tag bearing the letters DNR, FWS or OMNR, please notify the nearest [url "http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153--21107--,00.html"][#0000ff]DNR office[/#0000ff][/url], and tell them: [ul] [li]the species caught [li]length [li]weight [li]sex (if possible) [li]date caught and location [li]tag number [/li][/ul]
If you are releasing the fish, DO NOT REMOVE THE TAG.
[url "http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10364-44584--,00.html"][#0000ff]Read more about marked and tagged fish[/#0000ff][/url][/black][/font]
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