U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

CooperativeTagging Program

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The Cooperative TaggingProgram is made up offederal and stateagencies workingtogether along theeastern seaboard towardthe preservation andrestoration ofanadromous fisheries.Information gathered isused to identify causesof decline in fisheriesresources, monitor thestatus of stocks, and toevaluate restoration offish populations.The program’s successis in part due to thecooperative of bothrecreational andcommercial fishermanin reporting tagged fish.

Striped BassA managementsuccess story

bass tagging and hatchery programsto estimate rates of exploitation andnatural mortality and to determineif hatchery-reared fish couldsupplement wild stocks in severelydepleted rivers. During this sameperiod emergency fishing restrictionswere imposed by the coastal statesfrom NC to ME to protect theremaining striped bass stocks.

As a result, the Chesapeake Bay’smigratory stock of striped bass wasdeclared restored as of January 1,1995. For the Fish and WildlifeService, other Federal agencies, stateagencies, research groups, and theusers of the resource, the recoveryof striped bass is a well-deservedreward for years of effort, research,and extreme sacrifice.

A central database, designed andmanaged by the U.S. Fish andWildlife Service stores coast widetagging information and fishery

Severe declines of striped basslandings during the 1970’s led to thepassage of Section 7 of theAnadromous Fish Conservation Act1979, more commonly know as theEmergency Striped Bass Study. TheAct instructed the Secretaries ofInterior and Commerce toimplement studies to determine thecauses for the decline of migratorystocks of Atlantic striped bass.

Towards that end, water qualityconditions on spawning groundswere evaluated. Concurrently, theService initiated a coast-wide striped

dependent and independent surveydata. This information is used todevelop and implement appropriatemanagement measures to maintain aviable and sustainable fishery.

Since 1985, nearly nine millionmarked hatchery-reared stripedbass fingerlings have been releasedinto the wild. In 1988, hatchery fishcomprised 50% of Maryland’s young-of-the-year striped bass in somerivers. Today, as hoped, hatchery fishare far out numbered by wild fish.The Maryland Department ofNatural Resources reported that the1996 young-of-the-year index wasthe highest since the survey began in1954. While evaluation studiescontinue on the potentialcontribution of hatchery fish to wildstocks, hatchery-reared striped bassmarked with coded wire tags arenow used primarily to gatherinformation on population dynamicsand migration patterns to answermanagement questions.

The Service, encouraged by thesuccess of the striped bass program,has begun restoration work oncoastal populations of AmericanShad and Atlantic sturgeon.

Migratory striped bass are foundfrom the St. Lawrence River toNorth Carolina. Tag returns areproviding better understanding ofmigratory patterns. The taggingprogram has confirmed that some1-2 year old striped bass do leavebays and estuaries to forage alongthe coastline. Tag returns of threeyear old hatchery fish released in theChesapeake Bay have come from asfar north as new Brunswick, Canada––over 1,000 miles from its point ofrelease, illustrating that hatcherystripers migrate as far as those bornin the wild. Tag returns have alsoprovided information on rates ofmigration. For example, one striper

What havewe learned?

swam 500 miles at an average of16 miles per day before beingrecaptured.

Tagging data on striper mortalityhas shown that approximately 20percent of adult wild stripers dieeach year from sources other thandirect fishing for striped bass.Tagging data has also shown thatboth juvenile wild and hatcherystripers, during their first 1-3 years,suffer higher mortality than adults.Information on mortality ratesobtained from the tagging programallows biologists to evaluate andadjust individual state and coastalmanagement programs as needed.

If you catch a tagged striped bass,you should cut off the tag and recordthe date, location, and method ofcapture. If you are unable to cut offthe tag then write down the tagnumber along with the requiredinformation. You should then reportthe information as soon as possibleto the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Serviceat 1 800/448 8322.

More than 340,000 hatchery-rearedand wild striped bass have beentagged with an external anchor orspaghetti tag since 1985. Anglersreturned more than 62,000 of thesetags by the end of 1999. In addition,all hatchery-raised stripers––morethan nine million fish in all––are alsotagged in the left cheek with a tinymicro-encoded piece of wire whichanglers cannot see but researcherscan detect with specializedequipment.

Fishery managers and biologistsfrom the United States Fish andWildlife Service, the NationalMarine Fisheries Service, stateagencies from North Carolina toMassachusetts, and universities areparticipating in the coast-widestriped bass tagging program.

What canyou do?

As American shad migrate up theAtlantic Coast on their annualspring spanning run, researchersteamed with the New York StateDepartment of EnvironmentalConservation’s (NYDEC) HudsonRiver Fisheries Unit, and NJBureau of Marine Fisheries willcontinue a third year of study in thecoastal shad population.

The Hudson River research willdetermine the number of shadreturning to the river to spawn andthe portion caught by Hudson Riverfishermen. The Delaware Bay studywill show which stocks use lowerDelaware Bay on their migrationroute.

American shad spawn in majorrivers along the east coast. In thefirst year of life, shad remain in theriver until late fall when they enterthe ocean. There they join the restof the stock and begin their oceanjourney, which will eventually(generally four to six years later)bring them back to the river wherethey were born.

Shad flesh and roe have long beenconsidered a springtime delicacy,making them highly sought after bycommercial fisheries. Traditionally

ShadHudson Riverand DelawareBay AmericanShad TaggingStudy

What we know

the fisheries have occurred withinriver systems. But in recent yearsof harvest of shad has increasedin ocean waters. Because of theincrease in ocean harvest during thelast 15 years, the informationgathered on the Hudson River fishwill also be used to gauge the effectsof ocean harvest on the HudsonRiver population.

Between 1995-2000 nearly 10,000shad were tagged. Shad will betagged and released in lowerDelaware Bay and in three sectionsof the Hudson River: New YorkHarbor, Haverstraw Bay, andKingston.

Any person capturing a tagged fishis asked to call the Toll-Freenumber printed on the tag, which isthe same as that for striped bass andsturgeon. There are rewards forturning these tagged fish.

The Hudson River and DelawareBay area studies is part of a jointinterstate efforts to understand shadharvest patterns along the coast.Tagged fish may be recovered alongtheir Atlantic Coastal migratoryroute (VA to Canada). Recoveries ofthis spring’s release may be in eitherthe Delaware Bay or Hudson Riverand other northern spawning rivers.Other cooperating agencies includethe NJ Bureau of Marine Fisheriesand the U.S. Fish and WildlifeService.

What are wedoing?

What canyou do?

Earliest records of the Atlanticsturgeon’s importance to NativeAmericans date back to 2198 B.C.Chesapeake Bay waters oncesupported large and valuablepopulations of the Atlantic sturgeon,a majestic long-lived bottomdwelling species, capable of reachingenormous size. Yet, throughout itsrange the species has virtuallydisappeared due to overfishing,diminished water quality, anddamming of rivers.

Initially, the Service is trying tolearn more about the abundance,distribution, mortality, and life cyclesof sturgeon in Atlantic Coastalwaters. One successful method forobtaining such information isthrough external tagging. Eachcaptured fish is marked with twospaghetti-shaped tags (one on itspectoral or bottom fin and one on itsdorsal or top fin). Each tag bears aseparate serial number, plus a toll-free telephone number. Some arealso being tagged with a yellowspaghetti-shaped tag located nearthe third scute from the front.

SturgeonWhy are theyimportant?

Laurie Hewitt

If you catch a tagged sturgeon, callthe toll-free number on the tag toreport information about therecapture, such as the tag number,size of the fish, date, place, andmethod of capture.

State and federal biologists andmanagers working with sturgeonrecovery programs in AtlanticCoastal water, need your help andwelcome any information you canprovide about this fish.

The Cooperative Tagging Programhas provided valuable informationfor striped bass, and will be asimportant to sturgeon and shad.However, our understanding ofmigration, mortality, and spawningbehavior is far from complete for allthree species. This is where anglerscan help by continuing to look forand to report tags. We thank you foryour participation as a partner in therestoration of Striped bass, Atlanticsturgeon, and American shad.

Robert Savannah

What canyou do?

Thanks foryour help!

Atlantic SturgeonUSFWS tagplaced in thedorsal fin andone placed in thepectoral fin.Tags are yellow.

Striped BassUSFWS taglocated in belly.Tags are pink ororange.

American ShadUSFWS tagplaced belowdorsal fin.Tag is red.

For further information, please contact:U.S. Fish & Wildlife ServiceMaryland Fisheries Resources Office177 Admiral Cochrane DriveAnnapolis, MD 214011 800/448 8322

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service1 800/344 WILDhttp://www.fws.gov

Cooperators: State Agencies and Universities inNC, VA, MD, DC, DE, PA, NJ, NY, MA, RI, and CT.

July 2000