NOAA Fisheries Service’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center has launched a cooperative initiative to tag spiny dogfish (/Squalus acanthias/) in the Gulf of Maine, Southern New England, and Georges Bank. This project is an effort to answer long-standing questions about stock structure, movement patterns, and life history of the species in order to update and improve dogfish stock assessments.
Over a two-year period, a minimum of 33,000 dogfish will be tagged during the winter and summer months from three commercial vessels. Some of fish will be double tagged for a tag retention study, and some will be injected with oxytetracycline (OTC) for an age validation study.
Standard fin tags called rototags will be used during the project and will include a toll-free number for reporting required recapture information -- tag number, fork length, date, and location. Anyone who captures a tagged fish and returns complete information can earn either a $20 cash reward for one of the 27,000 white tags or a $100 cash reward for one of the 3,000 "high reward" orange tags.
Recaptures of fish injected with OTC and fish with two tag types -- a rototag and a dart tag -- will require return of the whole fish for a $100 cash reward (3,000 green tags). Whole fish to be returned should be iced or frozen. Shipping instructions will be provided upon contact.
To report the capture of tagged spiny dogfish, call toll free (877) 826-2612, report online at www.nefsc.noaa.gov/sharktagreport, or e-mail sharkrecap@noaa.gov
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