Tagging: How to get hands-on with fisheries management

Ever catch a tagged fish and wonder what it’s all about?

N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries researchers are tagging more than 15,000 striped bass, red drum, southern flounder, spotted seatrout, and cobia per year. Reporting a tagged fish is one of the easiest and best ways to get involved and to do your part to help manage North Carolina’s fish resources, while putting cash in your pocket.

Tagging animals has long been a method for monitoring wildlife. Fish, ducks, birds, black bears, grizzly bears, deer, monarch butterflies, to name a few, are tagged for different management purposes. Although the look, size, and location of tags may differ, the overall purpose is to gain insight into stock identity, abundance, age, growth, movements, migration, mortality, or behavior.

So why do fisheries managers use tagging, and why is tagging such an important tool in the fisheries management tackle box? Because it works. Unlike other animals, fish spend almost their entire lives out of sight of the researchers who are trying to learn about them, which makes studying them difficult, time consuming, and usually costly. For instance, to manage any of our state species, researchers need to know what stocks are mixing and when or where they’re migrating. Without tagging studies, researchers would have to rely on long-term surveys or word of mouth, and they would never know the finer details of movements, migrations, and population mixing that tagging data can afford. Likewise, for completing stock assessments, fisheries managers need accurate and timely information on mortality, stock delineation, growth, and more. Tagging studies are a great tool in the tackle box because they’re a cost-effective approach to gain this information, and the results are available quickly compared to long-term surveys and studies.

How are tagging data used in a stock assessment?

Stock assessments are sophisticated statistical computer models and simulations of fish populations that require three primary categories of information: catch, abundance, and biology. To ensure the highest quality stock assessments, the data used must be accurate and timely. Combining the cost-effective and timely tag-return data with the catch-at-age data currently collected by the division is a powerful, cutting edge approach to improve estimates of mortality and population size compared to traditional age-structured computer models alone. Combining these data allow for greater accuracy in estimates of stock status and allow for more informed and responsive management of North Carolina’s fisheries.

How can you have an impact in fisheries management?

The division needs your tagged fish data. It is only through the cooperation of the recreational and commercial fishermen returning tag and species information that the division collects the data necessary for the program to succeed. By returning information about your tagged fish, you’re directly impacting the accurateness and effectiveness of fisheries management. For instance, by returning information about the tagged fish that you caught, the division learns information such as how far and where the fish traveled, which gives information about movements and migrations. Measuring your fish gives us accurate, real-time growth information and lets us learn more about the biology of the species; and letting us know if you harvested or released the fish, helps us better understand both the harvest and catch-and-release fisheries, which is an important factor in stock assessments. So, if you want to help better and more accurately manage North Carolina’s fisheries, don’t forget to return your tagged fish data.

What do you do if you catch a tagged fish?

The division doesn’t ask you to change your catch behavior. The division simply encouragew all anglers who encounter a NCDMF tagged fish to return the tag or tag number and ancillary information to the division. Please cut off the tag(s), then write down the tag number, catch date, whether the fish was harvested or released, capture location (waterbody or nearest landmark) and total length of the fish. Save the tag and other information and call the division at 800-682-2632 or report the tag online. Those who return red tags to the division with the catch information will receive a $100 reward. Those returning yellow tags will receive a hat, $5, or other reward. A letter will also be mailed to anyone returning tags, stating where and when the tagged fish was released, days at large, distance traveled, and the length of the fish when it was released. Finally, all tag returns are entered for a division end-of-year cash drawing.

Helpful Hints:

Cut off the tag, do not pull it out.
If you are releasing the fish, cut the tag as close to the body of the fish as possible.
Record the tag number in case you misplace the tag before reporting it.
If the tag has algae growth, do not scrape the algae off. Scraping the algae can lead to tag damage that inhibits the division from recognizing what fish it came from. If you come across algae growth on the tag, either send the tag to the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries or let the tag soak in soapy warm water until the algae comes off.
Be careful when handling fish you intend to release. Handle it as little as possible, using wet hands or wet gloves. Return the fish to the water quickly to give the fish the greatest chance of post-release survival.
Be alert! Tags are designed to be as unobtrusive as possible, so they don’t change the fish’s behavior. That means that you might not see one if you’re not looking. Please report all tag and species information to the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries.

Some fish will have two tags, so check both sides of the fish and report both tags.