Striped Bass Tagging Techniques

Tagging with External Loop Tags and Internal PIT tags

Tagging with External Loop Tags and Internal Acoustic Tags

Striped Bass Tagging and Tracking

Fish can be tagged by biological, chemical or physical means; the choice depends, in part, on whether individual identification is required. We will focus on certain types of physical tagging.

http://www.azgfd.gov/w_c/Fish_Tagging_Marking_Techniques.shtml

Tagging

http://www.stripertracker.org/education/lp-efh.html

Physical tagging can either be external or internal.

External

Of the many external tags, modified dart tags called anchor of Floy tags are frequently used. One end has a plastic T-anchor (like those that attach price tags to clothing). Applicators can push the T through the fish in an area where it won’t interfere with fin movement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAClvyBSk7c

A modification of the anchor tag is a “lock-on” tag. One end is placed in a needle and the needle is passed through the fish. Once the needle is all the way through, it can be slid off of the tag end and this end can be attached or “locked” onto the other end creating a loop.

If a tagged fish is caught, the tag can be removed and mailed to the address on the tag. These tags are numbered and should be sent with information on the species of fish, where and when the fish was caught, length and weight, whether the fish was released and name and address of the individual who caught the fish. The American Littoral Society ((www.littoralsociety.org) has conducted a tagging program since 1965 and information on recapture is shared with the National Marine Fisheries

Internal

Implantation of biotelemetry devices is a common practice in fisheries science. This procedure is simple and has advantages over other external attachment techniques in that it is less likely to interfere with fish behavior.

—PIT (Passive Integrated Transponder) tagging

A small tag can be placed into the abdomen of the fish and when activated by a scanning device that emits a low-frequency radio signal, it sends a unique code back to the reader. Since it does not respond unless activated, it is considered passive. The tag requires no battery but the scanner has to be relatively close to the tag.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3ofmbtNK9U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRdqGpGhkwM

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/passive-integrated-transponder-pit-tags-in-the-101289287

https://www.colby.edu/academics_cs/courses/BI312/upload/PitTaggingSimpleTechnology.pdf

http://www.azgfd.gov/w_c/Fish_Tagging_Marking_Techniques.shtml

Click to access Zimmerman_Welsh_2008_WVAS.pdf

—Acoustic Transmitters

A transmitter can be placed in the abdominal cavity (the cavity that contains many organs including stomach and intestine. The transmitter emits acoustic “pings” (e.g., 69 kHz or 69,000 cycles per second). The variation in the number of pings allows identification of particular fishes. The pings can be detected by a receiver at a distance of several hundred meters for up to years (limited by battery life). This technique allows the measurement of long-term movement and fish behavior.

Standard coded transmitters (e.g., V16-6H coded tags, 16 mm diameter, 96 mm long, 34.0 g in air; Vemco Inc., Halifax, NS; http://vemco.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/v16-coded.pdf) are used.

Tags should weigh less than 2% (in air) of the body weight of a fish. Thus, larger fishes (> 2 kg) must be used for this technique so as not to impede their behavior.

The limits of this technique include battery life and the need for an array of receivers to pick up the acoustic signal. More receivers are being placed along the Atlantic coast with the highest density in the Chesapeake Bay.

http://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/stories/2013/11/11_20_2013sturgeon_we_forgot_all_about_you.html

General

http://www.azgfd.gov/w_c/Fish_Tagging_Marking_Techniques.shtml

http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?a=2696&q=514692&depNav_GID=1647

http://www.noreast.com/articles/oldarticle.cfm?f=D%3A%5Cnoreastsaltwater%5Cissue_data%5C1101%5CFeatures%5CFish%20Tagging.htm

http://gcoos.tamu.edu/?page_id=6714

https://www.fws.gov/endangered/news/episodes/bu-Fall2015/story2/story2.pdf

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4744049/

http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/read/popdy/scup-tagging/tagBasics.htm

http://www.biomark.com/Documents%20and%20Settings/67/Site%20Documents/PDFs/Fish%20Tagging%20Methods.pdf

Click to access 6_Marking_and_Tagging_of_Finfish.pdf

Tagging studies in the vicinity of Woods Hole