|
|
|
Feature Articles
|
Researchers to place 80 tags in NE bluefin this season
|
This article is reprinted with permission of Commercial Fisheries News, the Northeast's fishing newspaper for over 30 years, ©2003 Compass Publications Inc. Commercial Fisheries News is published monthly; annual subscriptions are $21.95. To subscribe or request a sample issue: call (877) 263-4496; fax (207) 367-2490; e-mail (cfoster@fish-news.com); or click on the hot link.
BOSTON, MA - Researchers and fishermen working with the New England Aquarium bluefin tuna tagging program have a total of 80 pop-up archival tags to place on fish this season.
As Commercial Fisheries News was going to press in late May, the program had received its scientific permit from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to tag fish, but a request to use spotter planes to aid harpoon placement of the tags before the start of the commercial season had been denied pending a public hearing.
Molly Lutcavage, senior scientist and director of the aquarium's Bluefin Tuna Population Biology Research Program, said project participants had hoped to use planes to place tags in early fish that show up in the late spring.
"The objective is to tag fish we've never tagged before," she said. "Fish that come in early are in different conditions than later fish, suggesting different feedings habits and migration patterns."
Lutcavage said by tagging early fish, researchers hoped to answer three questions: Are they part of the same group of fish as the resident fish fishermen see later? Do the early fish become resident fish or do they leave? And, are the early fish doing the same thing here that later fish do?
However, the proposal to use spotter planes triggered an outcry from fishermen's groups that worked intensely in recent years to convince Congress to ban aircraft in the harpoon and general categories.
The protests suggested that the scientific use of spotter planes would undermine the aircraft ban. A public hearing on the matter had not yet been scheduled as of late-May.
In addition to working with "fishermen partners" in the harpoon category, Lutcavage said project participants will make dedicated tagging trips on the Cookie Two, the Low Bid, and the White Dove Too throughout the season.
Funding for the 80 tags was made available through a congressional appropriation administered by NMFS. Each of the tags cost between $3,700 and $4,000, plus additional satellite charges of around $350.
Lutcavage and her collaborators placed 10 tags last year, but were not ready to report on the data they collected yet because the tags were still on the fish.
"They're scheduled to pop off in September," she said. "We have to wait one full year."
Pop-up archivals returned last year showed an intriguing migration pattern that included mature bluefin spending time in the central North Atlantic (see related story page 1B of Commercial Fisheries News).
Lorelei Stevens
|
|
