[FischerMan21]

I have been fishing all my life and when I was younger I can remember watching shows where they would catch marlin or sharks and before they released them they would tag each fish. I can remember asking my dad why we never tagged fish and he told me how he use to but it became much to time consuming. You would have to tag the fish, pay the service, phone in your data, and if you ever wanted results (ie if you fish was ever caught again) you would have to call and ask about a specific tag. Frankly the process he explained to me didn?t seem exactly user friendly.
Last season I decided I wanted to look into what it would take to start tagging fish myself. I came across a website that seemed like it simplified the whole process. This site was Fishtagger.com. There are no service fees and data input is as simple as could be. There is even the option to post a picture of the tagged fish. You can link your tags to your email meaning should the fish be caught again you will get an e-mail updating the data. The only fees are the price of the tags. The tags themselves are extremely easy to implant in the fish with the hollow applicator needle provided with the kit. The tags are also made out of some sort of plastic so it won?t harm the fish. On each tag is a unique number as well as www.Fishtagger.com so anyone who might come across it knows where to go to report the tag.
I am well aware that the odds of one of my tagged fish ever being caught again (and more so reported) are slim to none but I figure this could be something worth trying.
I?m just wondering if anyone else out there tags fish and if so what service or tags do you use. I also wanna know if anyone else has heard of/uses fishtagger.com? I suppose this could be my plug for the website to get more people out there to give it a try. Before anyone asks I am in no way whatsoever affiliated with fishtagger.com I just happen to think its something worth doing. Ultimately its is good for the fisheries as a whole because the data collected can be used, among other things, to determine what regulations should be in place. This is especially important at a time when fishing regulations are under intense fire from us recreational fisherman as well as commercial fisherman. I would love to hear what others think about this so either post on this topic or send me PM?s. hope to hear your opinions soon

-Dan

 

[MakoMike]

Why do you want to tag fish? If its just to see if anyone ever returns a tag, then you could use any service you like. If its to try and help with scientific studies than you need to get more info about how the tag/return data will be used.

 

[FischerMan21]

Why not? It doesn?t harm the fish. Even if this is only data for personal use to see for example how much a local fish has grown, or even to see if that fish was caught again locally. Sure there are plenty of studies that can tell you a bluefish will grow x inches in a year and put on y amount of weight but what about blue fish in the Great South Bay (where I do most of my fishing). And does that fish that I caught in the Great South Bay stay in the Great South Bay? Does he take his vacation to the Carolina?s or does he prefer the vineyards. Most of the data collected about these fish is done so and analyzed in a manner to broad for particular areas, not to say its not true but the fish in my area might have subtly different habits. Again even if the tags I put out there are only for my personal use I find it interesting. Is there something in particular that you have against tagging fish Mike?

 

[ihavegills]

I used the Litoral society tags when I was about 12-16 (over 20 years ago) and I did get info back. I also caught several fish with the same type tag and did not like all the grass hanging off of them. I came to the conclussion that there is enough data on bass growth, migration, etc. and I was causing more stress and damage to the fish than necessary and stopped doing it. If some major scientific data resulted in the tag program that help the species I would have continued.

 

[blackdiamond296]

We do a lot of tagging on our boat, every shark we release and just about every bass. For the sharks we use NMFS tags (free) and for bass we use the Litorial society tags (they cost a few bucks per pack of 5). I haven't read the data analysis from either of these organizations but they're both legitimate organizations so I've got to think that something positive's being done with the data... and its just cool to find out about where your tagged fish go! We've had bass caught off of cape cod and a blue shark that was caught just north of aruba!!!