373 
Abstract — Pop-up satellite archi- 
val tags (PSATs) have been used to 
study movements, habitat use, and 
postrelease survival of large pelagic 
vertebrates, but the size of these tags 
has historically precluded their use on 
smaller coastal species. To evaluate 
a new generation of smaller PSATs 
for the study of postrelease survival 
and habitat use of coastal species, we 
attached Microwave Telemetry, Inc., 
X-tags to ten striped bass ( Morone 
saxatilis) 94-112 cm total length (TL) 
caught on J hooks and circle hooks 
during the winter recreational fishery 
in Virginia. Tags collected tempera- 
ture and depth information every five 
minutes and detached from the fish 
after 30 days. Nine of the ten tags 
released on schedule and eight trans- 
mitted 30% to 96% (mean 78.6%) of 
the archived data. Three tags were 
physically recovered during or after 
the transmission period, allowing 
retrieval of all archived data. All 
eight striped bass whose tags trans- 
mitted data survived for 30 days after 
release, including two fish that were 
hooked deeply with J hooks. The eight 
fish spent more than 90% of their time 
at depths less than 10 m and in tem- 
peratures of 6-9°C, demonstrated no 
significant diel differences in depth 
or temperature utilization (P>0.05), 
and exhibited weak periodicities in 
vertical movements consistent with 
daily and tidal cycles. 
Manuscript submitted 6 December 2008. 
Manuscript accepted 24 April 2009. 
Fish. Bull. 107:373-383 (2009). 
The views and opinions expressed 
or implied in this article are those 
of the author and do not necessarily 
reflect the position of the National 
Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. 
Use of pop-up satellite archival tag technology 
to study postrelease survival of 
and habitat use by estuarine and coastal fishes: 
an application to striped bass (Morone saxatilis ) 
John E. Graves (contact author) 
Andrij Z. Horodysky 
Robert J. latour 
E-mail address for contact author: graves@vims.edu 
Virginia Institute of Marine Science 
College of William and Mary 
Route 1208 Greate Rd. 
Gloucester Point, Virginia 23062 
Developments in pop-up satellite 
archival tags (PSATs) have greatly 
improved scientific understanding 
of the postrelease survival, behav- 
ior, and movements of marine ver- 
tebrates — animals from which it is 
not always practical to physically 
recover tags to obtain data (Arnold 
and Dewar, 2001; Graves et. al. 2002). 
PSATs take measurements of physical 
conditions (e.g., temperature, pres- 
sure, light level) while attached to 
study animals, independently detach 
at predetermined times, float to the 
surface, and transmit data to orbiting 
satellites of the Argos system. Owing 
to the mass and size of older tags (~65 
g), PSAT deployments have histori- 
cally been limited to large pelagic 
marine vertebrates such as billfishes, 
tunas, sharks, and sea turtles. Recent 
miniaturization of tag components has 
led to the development of a new gener- 
ation of PSATs that are 33% smaller, 
thus enabling the collection of high- 
resolution time-series data for infer- 
ences regarding short-term fate and 
habitat use by increasingly smaller 
species, including many estuarine and 
coastal fishes. 
To evaluate the utility of the new 
generation of smaller PSATs for stud- 
ies of estuarine and coastal fishes, we 
deployed ten tags on large, coastal, 
migratory striped bass ( Morone saxa- 
tilis) caught on live baits rigged on 
two hook types in the winter recre- 
ational fishery off coastal Virginia 
and North Carolina. Although small- 
er PSATs provide opportunities to 
investigate smaller species, coastal 
and estuarine fishes and the charac- 
teristics of their habitats present spe- 
cial challenges for PSAT deployments. 
First, many coastal species associate 
with physical habitat structures in 
which the tags could become entan- 
gled, possibly resulting in premature 
release of the tag. Secondly, many 
coastal species aggregate, providing 
opportunities for conspecifics or other 
species to interact with the tag, pos- 
sibly causing premature release or 
damage to the PSAT. Finally, because 
coastal species are found near shore, 
there is an increased probability that 
a released (transmitting) PSAT will 
wash ashore during the transmission 
period, potentially reducing the qual- 
ity and quantity of subsequent data 
transmissions. On the other hand, the 
increased probability of beaching dur- 
ing data transmission may provide 
researchers opportunities for directed 
tag recovery. 
A second goal of this study was 
to gain insights into the postrelease 
survival of striped bass released 
from recreational fishing gear dur- 
ing the winter prespawning aggrega- 
tion near the mouth of Chesapeake 
Bay. Striped bass are a highly prized 
recreational gamefish, providing over 
$300 million to the U.S. economy and 
over $60 million to Virginia annu- 
ally (Kirkley and Kerstetter, 1997; 
Richards and Rago, 1999). Manage- 
ment regulations, such as seasonal 
