NOTE Yamanaka and Richards: Movements of transplanted Ophiodon elongatus 



583 



I24°I2 



I24°ll' 



I24°I0' 



Figure 1 



Location of the study area in the Strait of Georgia, British Columbia, and typical tracks of transient (fish Y2), resident i fish A2), 

 and control (fish CI) groups of lingcod. The release site is indicated by the fish number and the prime symbol gives the last 

 observed position. Fish Y2 left the study area, returned at position Y2', and was last observed at position Y2". A "." indicates 

 each recorded position. 



fish were used for the experiment. Experimental ling- 

 cod were released at one of two sites in the study area, 

 either Amelia or Yeo Island (Fig. 1). Control lingcod 

 were collected within the study area, held for 1-2 days, 

 and released at their capture site. 



Transmitters (Vemco Ltd., Armdale, Nova Scotia, 

 Canada B3L 4J4) of two types were used, varying in 

 battery life and size. A V3-5HI transmitter (16 x 

 95mm) had one of four frequencies (60.00 Hz, 65.54 

 Hz, 69.00 Hz, 76.80 Hz) and six pulse rates. It weighed 

 34.5 g (in air) and had an expected battery life of 31 

 days. The smaller V2B-2L transmitter (8 x 38 mm) 

 used identical frequencies but higher pulse rates. It 

 weighed 11.5 g (in air) and had an expected battery 

 life of 12 days. On average, fish weights were 40 times 

 greater than the weight of the V3-5HI tag and 228 

 times greater than the weight of the V2B-2L tag 

 (Table 1). Lingcod tagged with a V3-5HI transmitter 



could be detected at distances from to 1 km, depend- 

 ing on the complexity of the habitat in which the 

 fish was located. Detection range of the V2B-2L trans- 

 mitter was approximately half that of the V3-5HI 

 transmitter. 



Two different strategies were used for tracking. A 

 few fish were tracked continuously over a 2-3 day pe- 

 riod; position of the fish was recorded at 1-hour inter- 

 vals if the fish was stationary and at intervals as fre- 

 quent as 10 minutes for rapidly moving fish. Other 

 lingcod were located at least three times during a 12- 

 hour tracking period and individually tracked for 30 

 minutes to 1 hour. We assumed that a lingcod left the 

 study area if it could not be found after a search of the 

 entire study area, provided that its transmitter was 

 active (based on the manufacturer's estimate of bat- 

 tery life). We continued to search for each lingcod 

 throughout the active life of its tag. 



