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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 32 Number 6
April 2005
Industry members win cash for herring tag returns
ROCKPORT, ME - Richard Rideout of Bath was one of three lucky lottery winners in the latest round of the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) herring tag-return program. He accepted a $500 check from DMR’s Kohl Kanwit on March 4 during the 30th annual Maine Fishermen’s Forum and Trade Show.
Rideout found the tagged fish while working at the Purse Line Bait Co. plant in Sebasco, ME.
David Autio of Bremen, ME turned out to be the grand prize winner. He received $1,000 for a tag he recovered while herring fishing. June Gramolini was the third winner, receiving $500 for returning a tag she spotted while working on the processing line at Stinson Seafood’s Prospect Harbor, ME plant.
Everyone who returned a tag during 2004 was eligible for the lottery.
According to Kanwit, the prizes were made possible through generous donations from the herring industry itself.
In fact, for the past two years, the herring industry has funded practically the entire herring tagging project. Through cash donations and in-kind contributions, industry members contributed roughly $75,000 per year to make the project a reality.
Between 2003 and 2004, the DMR was able to tag almost 40,000 individual herring in the Gulf of Maine and Southern New England from purse seine vessels and contracted midwater trawlers.
Fifty-eight tags were returned during 2004, making for a grand total of 107 returns since the project got underway.
The longest distance traveled by a tagged herring was 414 nautical miles in 96 days, assuming a straight line between the point of release, which was Block Island, RI, and the point of recapture, which was Scots Bay, Nova Scotia. The “time at large” for fish recaptured in 2004 ranged from two to 551 days.
“The tag returns have provided us with valuable data, including information about migration patterns,” said Kanwit.
The most significant recoveries so far have been from spawning grounds in Nova Scotia. Herring stock assessments currently don’t account for mixing between the Georges Bank, Gulf of Maine, and Nova Scotia stock components, so the new information will be particularly important for future assessments.
The DMR is hoping that tagging information collected over the next five years will help scientists and fishermen gain a better understanding of migration patterns, site fidelity, and mixing ratios between herring stock components.
Last year, the DMR hand-delivered reward posters, tag return forms, and project descriptions to primary bait dealers all along the New England coast asking industry people to return tags.
Despite this effort, the DMR learned last summer that several lobstermen actually found tags in their bait but never turned them in.
Dismayed by this discovery, the DMR tried again last fall to get the word out, this time by targeting primary lobster dealers. The agency will continue expanding its outreach efforts in 2005.
According to Kanwit, the DMR has no problem tracking down the recapture sites of herring that end up in bait. Herring dealers are under a mandatory reporting requirement and need to report their purchases on a trip level basis. They also have to report the serial number from the catcher boat’s vessel trip report, which makes it possible for the DMR to verify catch coordinates for any tag returns.
Project to expand
The DMR and its industry partners recently received a $212,000 grant from the Northeast Consortium, which will allow the tagging program to expand significantly in 2005. For the first time, project participants will be able to tag fish on Georges Bank and in Canada.
While fishermen and DMR staffers have managed to tag roughly 20,000 fish per year for the past two years, the goal this year is to tag 85,000 herring in numbers roughly proportionate to stock size, as follows:
• 25,000 fish on Georges Bank;
• 30,000 fish in Southern New England and the Mid-Atlantic;
• 10,000 fish in the Gulf of Maine; and
• 20,000 fish in Nova Scotia through a cooperative effort with Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
To obtain a copy of the DMR’s 2004 tagging report, call Kanwit at (207) 633-9535.
Janice M. Plante
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