594 
Fishery Bulletin 96(3), 1998 
Corrigan Reef but could not 
be landed for data collection. 
One such turtle was identi- 
fied as a male because its tail 
extended considerably be- 
yond the posterior marginal 
scutes. Fibropapillomas were 
not observed on green turtles 
captured at Corrigan Reef. 
Annual CPUE for Kemp’s rid- 
ley turtles at Corrigan Reef 
ranged from 0.072 turtles/km-h 
in 1987 to 0.239 turtles/km-h 
in 1988 (Table 1). Maximum 
CPUE for loggerhead and 
green turtles at Corrigan Reef 
was 0.039 turtles/km-h and 
0.011 turtles/km-h in 1989, 
respectively. Kemp’s ridley and 
loggerhead turtles were cap- 
tured in this area from April 
to November, whereas green 
turtles were captured from 
June to September. 
Recaptures and 
local movements 
Thirty-four Kemp’s ridley 
turtles (23 with tags and 11 
with tag scars), five logger- 
head turtles (3 with tags and 
2 with tag scars), and one 
green turtle (with a tag scar) 
were identified as recaptures. 
All recaptured turtles with 
tags, with the exception of 
two NMFS Galveston labora- 
Figure 3 
Photographs of recaptured Kemp’s ridley turtles, Lepidochelys kempii , demonstrating 
(A) a barnacle-encrusted tag and (B) a flipper scar from tag loss. 
tory headstart Kemp’s rid- 
leys, were initially captured 
and tagged at Corrigan Reef. 
Thirty-five percent of the re- 
captured turtles exhibited 
tag scars, which is indicative 
of moderate tag loss and may 
account for the lack of recaptures or recoveries in 
other areas. Schmid and Ogren ( 1992) identified bar- 
nacle fouling as a potential problem with the other- 
wise corrosion-resistant Inconel flipper tag. The in- 
creased drag and weight produced by the barnacle 
clusters and the necrosis of flipper tissue by the en- 
crusted tag (Fig. 3A) resulted in the eventual shed- 
ding of the tags and the formation of a conspicuous 
notch in the trailing edge of the flippers (Fig. 3B). 
Barnacle growth was observed on both Inconel and 
plastic tags in as little as 14 days and tag loss was 
observed within 10 months after application. Simi- 
lar retention times were noted for both types of tags, 
but a quantitative analysis of retention rates was not 
performed because of small sample sizes. The use of 
marginal markings allowed for the identification of tag- 
scarred turtles originally tagged at the Cedar Keys and 
the tabulation of recapture data by year classes. PIT 
tags were successfully used to identify tag-scarred 
Kemp’s ridley turtles in the later part of the study. 
