Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen's Association

Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen's Association

  • Haddock Tagging

Haddock Tagging

Cooperative Haddock Tagging Program: Haddock Migration in New England Waters


The Program

With grant support from the Northeast Consortium, CCCHFA has carefully developed a tagging program for Atlantic haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus). Northeast Consortium Cooperative Haddock Tagging will pool the resources of CCCHFA, the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI), NOAA Fisheries Northeast Fisheries Science Center, 20 benthic longline vessels and 15 fishermen trained and acting as tagging technicians. CCCHFA will be the central coordinating body, while GMRI will use the infrastructure developed for the Northeast Regional Cod Tagging Program to manage tag deployment and return data, tag returns and reward distribution.

Study Goals

By tagging, releasing and recapturing haddock, this project tests existing assumptions about the spatial distribution of the stocks in New England Waters. We are particularly interested in the movement of haddock within and between closed areas and between eastern and western Georges Bank. While many fishermen, scientists and managers have pointed to year-round area closures as contributing to the recent promising news of a haddock population boom, we have scant information to determine the accuracy of this hypothesis. As haddock movement rates in New England waters have not been studied since the 1950s, we do not know the interchange rates between Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank haddock stocks and between eastern and western Georges Bank haddock substocks. Such pertinent information could effect stock assessments and management decisions. The program also seeks to generate supplemental income for fishermen and create a formal mechanism for their contribution to the science that affects their livelihoods.

Conducting the Research

The project will be a two year effort to tag at least 20,000 haddock using longline gear. Haddock are being tagged on dedicated and non-dedicated fishing trips to open and closed areas within Georges Bank and the Gulf of Maine. In order to obtain the best data possible and maximize fish survival, all tagging trips are being staffed with qualified tagging technicians trained by CCCHFA and using a highly standardized protocol. The haddock are tagged with green T-bar tags using a standard meat tagging gun. Tagging operations are similar to that for the Northeast Regional Cod Tagging Program and technicians record tag #, fish length, location, water depth and temperature, spawning condition, and date and time.

March 2005 marked the start of tagging operations; over 500 haddock were tagged on two dedicated trips to Closed Area I to ensure that some spawning fish were tagged in our first year of the project. Tagging began in earnest in July 2005.

Recaptured Tagged Haddock

Our first recapture was reported on May 12th, 2005 by a NMFS observer after being caught on Little Georges Bank, east of Closed Area I. We hope that the success of tagged cod reportings will be repeated with tagged haddock and even improved upon. Many fishermen are now aware of tagging operations and keep an eye out for tagged fish.

Upon recapture, we ask that some basic information be recorded: Tag#, fish length, location, water depth and temperature, gear used, spawning condition, date and time, and fish fate (landed or discarded). We also encourage the collection of information on the overall condition of the fish and the condition of the tag site. The tags are marked with the project name, a website address and a toll-free telephone number for easy reporting.

To Report a Recapture


Recaptures can be reported by the following three methods:
1. By the toll-free number (1-866-447-2111) or
2. By e-mailing (tagging@gmri.org) or
3. By online data entry at http://www.gmamapping.org/haddockmapping/ under the "Tag Locator" tab.
Tags should be removed from the fish and mailed to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute at 350 Commercial Street, Portland, ME 04101.

To Track a Tagged Haddock:

With the online GIS mapping interface, fishermen are also able to track the movement of an individual recaptured tagged haddock and to summarize information on multiple tagged haddock. To go to the GIS mapping interface, click here.

Rewards:

Each fisherman fully reporting a tagged haddock will receive via mail a program scratch ticket with cash prizes up to $500. The scratch tickets have been designed and developed by CCCHFA to offer a high rate of rewards – overall odds of winning are better than 1 in 4 – and to obtain a high reporting rate of recaptures.

Last updated: September 8, 2005

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HAVE YOU CAUGHT A TAGGED HADDOCK OR COD?

Report the tagged fish and receive a prize!

If you catch a haddock or cod with a tag:

  • Record
Tag #
Fish length
Spawning condition
Date and time
Location
Water depth and temperature
Gear used
Fate of fish (released or landed)

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