Over 48,000 codfish are currently swimming around the Gulf of Maine with sporty yellow two-inch plastic tags in their backs, thanks to a collaborative study investigating cod movement and migration. The Northeast Regional Cod Tagging Program has completed the first year of its two-year study, and is hoping for a similarly successful second year. “We are almost exactly halfway to our project goal of tagging 100,000 fish, and with all the researchers and fishermen trained, are looking forward to a very productive second year,” says Program Manager Dr. Shelly Tallack of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute.
The fish are caught by fishermen using a number of methods, including trawl gear, lobster traps, long lines, automatic jigging machines and old-fashioned handlines with hooks. The yellow T-bar anchor tags are applied either by the fishermen or by the on-board researcher. These tags cause little injury, and are externally visible when the fish is caught again. Anyone who finds a tagged cod is asked to call the toll-free number shown on the tag (1-877-447-2111). “With the fish in the water, we are now counting on fishermen to return the tags,” says Dr. Tallack, “and the success of this project relies on getting good return information.” She notes that there is a reward for tag returns (a T-shirt, mug or a hat), and that tag returnees are also automatically entered into a cash lottery if the information they provide includes the 1) tag number, 2) date of capture, 3) capture location and 4) the fish length.
This tagging effort aims to produce information that will show the migration patterns of cod in the Gulf of Maine, neighboring Canadian waters, Georges Bank and southern New England waters. There is generally consensus among the fishing and the science communities that this aspect of this commercially important stock is still not well understood, and that greater insight into the distribution and movement of Atlantic cod is needed for future management efforts to rebuild these stocks. These fish migrate from wintering grounds into summer spawning and feeding grounds, and this movement may take them across a number of areas worked by different fishing fleets. In an effort to understand just how much cumulative impact this fishing effort has on the whole stock, and to understand if there are population sub-units that may need conservation, this movement information is critical.
This study is being conducted by an international partnership of research organizations including: the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, the Maine Department of Marine Resources, Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the Island Institute, the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen’s Association, the School for Marine Science and Technology (University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth) and the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences. The project is supported by the National Marine Fisheries Service Cooperative Research Partners Initiative, which aims to involve fishermen in research on the stocks they fish.
If you are interested in hearing more about or contributing to this effort, please visit the program’s website codresearch.org, or contact Dr. Shelly Tallack, Program Manager, at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (207) 772-2321, or for coastal Maine regions call Benjamin Neal, Project Researcher at (207) 594-5685.