A METHOD FOR TAGGING IMMATURE HERRING 



by 



John E. Watson 



Fishery Biologist (Research) 



Bureau of Commercial Fisheries Biological Laboratory 



U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 



Boothbay Harbor, Maine 



ABSTRACT 



A technique for tagging juvenile herring is described. The tag is 

 made of polyvinyl chloride tubing sealed by friction with a V-shaped 

 nylon plug. A hypodermic needle is used to insert the tag through the 

 anterior dorsal musculature. During the 1960 Maine fishing season 

 8,300 tagged herring were released in lots of 100 to 500 and were re- 

 covered at a rate of to 5 percent. Greatest known distance traversed 

 before recovery was approximately 50 nautical miles; greatest speed 

 of travel was 10 miles per day and longest time to recovery was 391 

 days. The average length of time to recovery was 18 days. 



INTRODUCTION 



Most of the herring (Clupea harengus 

 harengus) caught along the Maine coast of 

 the United States are immature fish 4- to 8- 

 inches long and are packed as sardines. The 

 young herring are harvested among the bays 

 and islands of the coast with stop seines, and, 

 to a lesser extent, with weirs and purse 

 seines. The fish are canned at 31 plants 

 located along the Maine coastline. When the 

 fish are captured, they are usually pumped 

 through a descaling machine into the hold of 

 a carrier vessel, transported to a canning 

 plant, and repumped into the cannery. In- 

 frequently, the carrier vessels transfer the 

 catches to trucks for overland transportation 

 to a cannery. The vigorous handling of the 

 herring required the design of an especially 

 tenacious tag. 



McKenzle and Skud (1958) described a cellu- 

 loid opercular tag they considered suitable 

 for short-term studies of sardine (herring) 

 migrations. In 1959, experiments were begun 

 at the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries 



Biological Laboratory, Boothbay Harbor to 

 develop a long-term tag, preferably one that 

 would persist through two fishing seasons. 



MATERIALS AND METHODS 



The chief qualities required of a tag for 

 Maine sardines are: 



1. Inertness . The tag should be nontoxic 

 and made of a soft material so that the 

 tagging wound would heal cleanly, 



2. Visibility and tactility . The tag should 

 be highly visible through all stages of 

 processing, especially in the canning 

 plants, and should be apprehended by 

 the sense of touch as well as sight by 

 persons handling the fish for canning. 

 Thus, an external tag of conspicuous 

 color was desirable. 



3. Retention . The tag should be attached 

 firmly to withstand the vigorous handling 

 of the fish from capture to final 

 processing. 



