[Tiderunner]

This past year I had a lot of fellow fisherman (boat & surf)asking me about my fish tags. Since 1990 I tagged over 725 fish with 100 returns. Mostly Fluke, Blues and Stripers. I use the American Littoral Society (ALS) yellow tags. The information from tagged fish is sent to marine biologists at the National Fisheries Service at Woods Hole, MA. They study migration and growth rates of fish, particularly, striped bass. The address for the ALS is : American Littoral Society, Sandy Hook, Highlands, NJ 07732. Membership is $25.00/year and tags cost around $6.00 for ten tags. (see recent photo of tagged striper below)
Happy Holidays - Tag & Release
Tiderunner

This message was edited by Tiderunner on 12-9-01 @ 12:41 PM

 

[Jaiem]

I caught a bass last week that had an ALS tag in it.

I've tagged for them in the past but never got a return.

Jaiem
ArtsNFlies.com

 

[Tiderunner]

I tagged a 24" Striper October 1996 at Montauk Point. The fish was recaptured May of 1998 at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, Virgina . It grew to 29". These fish do indeed get around. And in Nov.1999 I tagged a 30" striper at Jones Beach and it was recaptured June 2000 at Salisbury St.Park,MA Mouth of Merrimack River. It only grew to 31". The smaller fish grow much faster than the more mature fish.
Tag & Release
Tiderunner

 

[mattyblazer]

I got a tagged fish this morning, It had a 800-boat-usa tag on it. I called the # and left my name and # on the machine. Let him go. The tags in the photo are at the top, look less distressful to the fish than tags at the bottom of the fish do, I saw one in Montauk this summer.

 

[Tiderunner]

Tagging a fish does cause stress to the fish. I think the dorsal (ALS)tags are less stressing to the fish then belly tags. Before I tag my fish I try to place a wet towel over it's body an eyes. This has a calming effect on the fish and also prevents removing it's protective body (slime) oil. Notice in the picture above that the bass's fins are all erect, this is a good sign. One thing I notice with a lot of fisherman is that they try to muscle the fish in. This cause's great stress on the fish and a build up of lactate acid in the body muscles. So when the fish is releaseed they don't swim well and eventually die from drowing. The other problem is when fisherman try to pick up the fish by the gills. This causes severe damage to their gill plates and eventually shortens their life.
Tag & Release
Tiderunner