Ankle bracelets for fish.. knowing who is coming and going

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Ankle bracelets for fish.. knowing who is coming
and going Developing an acoustic fish gate for
the Chester River.

• Hassan Moustahfid, PhD.
• U.S. IOOS
• The BEST of the Chester Apr. 17-19, 2012

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Outline

• Early Tagging Studies in Chester River
• Present studies DNR- Perch etc. Spawning and
  Nursery grounds.
• What new in Fish Tagging/Telemetry (Electronic
  Tags, Acoustic and Satellite etc.)
• Chester river
• What? potential fish to tag
• Where? Potential Acoustic Telemetry Array
  placement
• Why? Example of questions to answer
• Couple optimal design for different needs

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Early Fish Tagging Work Conventional Tagging
Mansueti, 1960 in Chesapeake Science Vol. 1
Comparison of the Movements of Stocked and
Resident Yellow Perch, Perca flavescens, in
Tributaries of Chesapeake Bay, Maryland Mark
recapture technique Few returned fish
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Fish Tagging Work
Fisherman interest in the spawning run of yellow
perch in Marylands upper Chesapeake waters,
Maryland DNR implemented a pilot study in spring
2008. The objective investigate movements of
yellow perch during the spawning
period. Technique used Mark-Recapture- Fish were
tagged with t-bar anchor tags. Fishermen where
rewarded if they get back the tags.
A total of 1495 yellow perch were tagged and
released
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DNR Fisheries Service 2008 Yellow Perch Tagging
(mark-recapture) study,

RESULTS Of the 1495 fish tagged, 27 tag
returned. Conclusion The success of
conventional tagging study is very closely
related to fishermen cooperation,
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Electronic TaggingAcoustic Telemetry Technology

• Whats available?
• VEMCO, LOTEK, HTI, etc.
• Passive arrays, manual equipment, combinations

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Even Clupeid species such as Herring, Shad can be
tagged with acoustic tags.
B. Meloy
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OTN
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Source Tag A Giant Program
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Fabrizio et al. 2005. NOAA tech memo,
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POST array
Courtesy Dr.John Payne (POST)
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Chester River Acoustic Array Design Ideas
The waters of the Chester are spawning and
nursery areas for many fish species Alewife,
shad, blueback, perch, Blue Crab.  Striped
bassRockfish is the most prized anadromous
(freshwater spawning) fish found in the Chester. 
Perfect place to establish an acoustic array,
Depth Max 50-60 m Mouth Love point and Eastern
Neck 2 miles
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Why do we tag fish?

• Help fisheries managers understand more about the
  fish species and their populations.
• Identification of sensitive hot spot areas,
  high value
• Ecosystems and ecosystem benefits created by
  Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).
• Monitor and mitigate the impacts of management
  strategies including protected areas and
  fisheries regulations.
• Define essential fish habitat (EFH)
• Establish baseline habitat usage studies on
  potential sites of future
• anthropogenic disturbance (e.g aquaculture
  sites)
• Improve stock assessments provide spatial and
  temporal refinement of natural
• mortality , harvest susceptibility and survival
  rates
• Animal Telemetry can reveal how environmental
  factors drives animal
• distributions in nutrient enriched
  estuaries and coastal areas, to better understand
  the impact of the large low-oxygen zones
• Provide the scientific basis for ecosystem-based
  management (EBM).
• Recreational Fisherman interest in the spawning
  run

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Education and outreach

• From recreational fishers to conservationists
  animals offer a unique opportunity to catch the
  attention of the public and educate them about
  the value and importance of ocean
  observation.
• Popular and useful educational products have been
  created for grades K-12 with telemetry and
  tracking data.

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Or Bay
Example of a Typical Receiver Layout for a River
Migration Study
Source Vemco
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Thank You
Hassan.moustahfid_at_noaa.gov
http//www.ioos.noaa.gov
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