The Honolulu republican. [volume] (Honolulu, T.H.) 1900-1902, 1901-02-08
TAGGED FISHES OF THE SEA.
Interesting Piscs.orisi Statistics the
Government Has Learned.

interesting Ptsca.crst SsacfsCcS the
Government Has Learned.
Il seems rather an odd idea to fast
en- metal tugs TO marine fishes and
then let then loose in the ocean With
the idea Of identifying them as irdiyi-
duals in case they happen to be caught
q. future time, but this is what the
United States Fish Commission is do
ing just now with cod. 1900 OF which
have been duly tagged and released
this year. No two tags are alike. the
markings on them being stamped in
series of letters and numbers. record
Of which is kept in book in such
manner that IL q tagged Goldfish turns
UP, a moments reference TO the mem
o-anda viii furnish the history OF that
particular specimen. with date OF liber-
alton, weight and so forth For exam
pie. cod wearing a tag with the
raised inscription IS 100" has a COM
plete Identification card, so that she
is entered in the commission ledger
Only brood fsh"-that is. spawning
females-are tagged They are brought
from fishermen, stripped of their eggs
at Woods Hole. Mass. and liberated in
the waters of Viper and Mound. after
having the tags attached 10 them. The
tag is small piece of copper. secure
" fastened by a wire passed through
a fin near its junction with the body
II does not matter which fin is chosen.
though q back or tail I'm is best The
tag is very light, and its attachment in
the manner described does no harm
whatever to the animal During the
last few months the Fish Commission
has distributed a circular all along
the coast of New England, requesting
that whenever a cod with tag comes
into the hands of fisherman or other
person, he shall remove the piece of
metal and send it TO the commission
station at Woods Hole, together with
a brief statement as to the date on
which the fish was caught. where II
was captured its weight before dress
ed its length and the condition of its
roe.
The object of the tagging is TO as
certain the rate at which 4 cod grows.
the frequency of its spawning, and the
extent of its travels in the ocean.
knowledge of this kind has an OBJ
vious bearing upon fish cultural prob
lens. and there is every reason TO be-
lieve that the future of the cod fishery
on the New England coast must de-
pend mainly upbn artificial Matching
The Matching of cod eggs and the
planting Of the fry in those waters has
been carried on for several years. and
already the fishery shows notable
Improvement, apparently due to this
work. During the present year, the !
work coming to an end April I. there |
were planted in New England waters |
$50 100000 Goldfish.
This year the Fish Commission is |
going to tag many thousand of young |
salmon artificially Matched for the /
rivers of the Pacific Coast Very small |
tags will be used the fishes being FIN !
gerlings." about three inches long II /
is expected that in this wav it will be /
ascertained the age at which the sal
mon come from the sea to spawn: also /
their rate of growth and the percent /
age of the fry that attain maturity.
The work will be carried on in the ba-
sins of the Columbia and Sacramento.
Some years ago similar expert
ment was made at the Fish Commits
sion station on the Clackamas River.
which is tributary to the Columbia:
but. instead of tagging the Young
fishes. the soft dorsal fms were shaved
off them with razor before they were
released. When they came back to
spawn. three years later. they averag-
ed twenty pounds in weight
From this experiment one or two
very interesting conclusions were
drawn. If all of the artifciallv hatch
ed fry had survived and been captur-
ed il is obvious that l 900 of them
would have contributed 10000 pounds
Of food fish for market AS a matter
Of fact, only one out of them returned
and was taken. the result being 1000
pounds of fish for every 1000 young
ones Observation-Disclosures Times.