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Tagging Tips Before setting out on a day of fishing - Organize your tags
- Thread the tag in the applicator and attach it to the data card
- Don"t forget your pencil
When you catch a fish - Record pertinent information immediately (specie, location, length, weight, and any comments). It’s easy to forget details later.
- Date of trip and your name and address can be filled in later.
- REMEMBER—fork length is the length for science and tag cards, total length is the measurement of regulation. When you return from fishing - Save your hand--use name and address labels or an address stamp on your tag cards.
- Save postage--Up to 8 cards can be mailed in an envelope for a first-class, 42-cent stamp. Mailing one at a time costs 27 cents each.
- Please return the tag cards in numerical order, as soon as possible.
Tips from a long-time tagger: Download letter Tagging Facts Size and duration of program - The tagging program celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2005—1965 to 2005
- 1125 taggers and tagging clubs tag about 25,000 each year Type and numbers of fish tagged* - Striped bass is the specie tagged most often, averaging 17,500 per year
- Summer flounder is second, averaging 2,500 tagged per year
- Bluefish is third, averaging about 1,300 tagged per year
- Winter flounder, black sea bass, tautog, axe, cod, croakers, scup, and weakfish are also tagged
*numbers based on a 10-year period What tagging tells us about fish
(Note: the term “return” refers to the recapture and reporting of a previously tagged fish) - The longest striped bass return was “out” 11 years, 9 months. That"s 4,291 days at sea.
-The longest bluefish return was “out” four years to the day. It was tagged in Massachusetts and recaptured in New York.
- The longest summer flounder return was “out” 8 years and 1 day; it was tagged at 11” and at recapture had grown to 26” (6 ½ lbs)
- The longest winter flounder return was “out” 4 years, 8 months; Tagged in the Middle Bay off Southern Long Island, it was recaptured nearby in Great South Bay The Conscientious Tagger A picture is worth a thousand words—Fish Tagging Photo Gallery On Line Years ago if an angler wanted a mounted fish to hang on the den wall it was necessary to kill the fish to be mounted. Nowadays, a clear photograph of your fish is all that is needed for a skilled taxidermist to reproduce an accurate mount of a fish--allowing you to release it unharmed to the sea after, we hope, tagging it with one of our tags. We don’t have a wall to display all of your great catches, but we have created an on-line space for you to share photos of your fish with other taggers and the rest of the world. The fish-taggers photo gallery is now up and running with new additions being added weekly. All anglers are encouraged to send us your favorite fishing/marine related photographs for inclusion in our new gallery. We will try our best to include everyone; however we reserve the right to exclude photos that are blurry, too small, or otherwise will not display well on-line. To Submit Photos to the Gallery: Include your name, date & location photo was taken, and other pertinent info To send digital images via e-mail (preferred format): Jeff@littoralsociety.org To submit photos via US Mail: We can convert these to digital format as we are able; however, if you want them returned, you must include a self-addressed, stamped envelope with sufficient postage. Mail to Jeff Dement, American Littoral Society, 18 Hartshorne Drive, Ste. 1, Highlands, NJ 07732. Visit the Gallery. A Question for You Winter flounder (Psuedopleuronectes americanus) are found inshore during the winter months and migrate offshore in the early spring. Summer flounder (Paralichtys dentatus) are found offshore in the deep canyons in the winter and migrate inshore in late spring. Do these two flounders, the right eyed winter flounder and the left-eyed summer flounder pass each other as they migrate?
To learn more about our tagging program, call Jeff at 732-291-0055.
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