Evening star., 1925-08-21
WHY FISH OF SEA
ARE BEING TAGGED
BY LeUis Radcliffe
Deputy COmmissioner. u. =. Bureau
of Fisheries.

More than 10000 cod, pollock, had
dock and mackereI have been tagged
with metal strips or celluloid bands
in New England waters, according to
report released by the Bureau of
Fisheries. We tag our automobiles,
our dogs, and even our babies. Occa-
sionally we grown-ups are tagged for
a day in the interest of some worthy
cause. We are also conversant with
bird banding as a means of finding
where the birds 90 when they leave
us for warmer or colder climes. AS
practical joke, or for some other
reason, an unknown person living
not so far distant from Cape Cod has
been slipping rubber bands over the
heads or bodies of mackereL This
man of mystery, and his reason for
this practice of several years, Is still
secret. When. however, Govern
ment scientists in the United States,
Canada and other countries face sea
sickness and other discomforts to
fasten small strips of metal to gill
covers or fin or tail of tens of
thousands of cod. mackereI and sal
mon, and continue this at no little
expense, year after year, there must
be reason, especially in these days
OF economies in Federal expenditures.
we can make census of hogs
or cattle or estimate the stand of
TIMBER in forest with reasonable
accuracy. We can study beetles, but.
terfiies or bats, their habits, growth
and life cycles. These are subjects
that we can see and keep under
observation. Studies of life in the
water and in the depths Of the sea
are vastly more complex and the
taking of a. census of cod or mackerel
has baffied the ingenuity of the
scientist. BY constructing racks and
runWayS 1t has been possible to make
counts or salmon ascending a stream
to the spawning grounds and by
close observation of conditions over
period of years 70 determine how
many fish may be taken by the
Gamer and how many should be per
mitted to ascend the river to insure
proper seeding of the spawning
grounds. But salmon may travel for
miles along the coast and be sub
Ject to attack by the fishermen at
l point or 10 points.
=
The tagging of fish has been found
exceedingly helpful in clearing up
obscure points in their life study. Elk.
perience has shown that the tags
must be fastened securely, preferably
through the thickened part of the
tail or the end of the bony gill cover,
behind the eye. For saltwater fishes
a metal such as monel. which will
not corrode. must be used The fish
must be handled with extreme care
in tagging and returned to the water
unharmed or else the scientists la
bors have been futile. The locality
In which the fish is released is care
fully recorded with the tag number
and other information.
A week, month, or a year or
more later the fisherman recaptures
one of these Scientific messengers Of
Uncle sam and sends to the United
states Bureau of Fisheries the tag,
locality of recapture, weight and
length. for which he receives the mod
est reward of % cents. The return
Of hundreds of these tags brings to
the scientist many facts Of impor-
tance. They tell him whether the fish
Is Stay-at-home or whether il
spends its Winters in more Southern
climes away from the icebergs and
colder Arctic currents. Thus, he OBJ
tainS corrOborative evidence of when
the fish matures-whether at the age
of or II years-how fast il grows
and other interesting facts. The
number of recaptured fish affords us
a reliable index as TO whether the
fisherman Is draining too heavily his
capital stock and thus endangering
the future supply.
Because of the success of fish tag
ging in revealing the life story of
fishes. Norwegians are now tagging
whales. This is accomplished by
shooting darts into the thick blubber
of the whale. The whaler capturing
one of these huge mammals is ex-
pected to return the dart with full
data.
Copyright. 1925)