The Littoral Society's Striped Bass Tagging Program

Fish tagging is crucial for researchers because striper spend most of their lives out of sight, making it challenging to study them. Marine biologists are particularly interested in tracking the movements of striped bass after spawning. To achieve this, they set nets in the river, capture, tag, and release around 1000 striped bass. Throughout the season and into late fall, they monitor the returns of these tagged fish to estimate return rates and mortality rates for the fish spawned in that stream. 

All tagging data is sent to the database of the National Marine Fisheries Service Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA, ensuring that the information gained is effectively utilized. Over 5% of tagged fish have been recaptured, demonstrating the program's success. In response to declining striped bass stocks in the early 1970s, the Littoral Society's Fish Tagging Program shifted its focus to monitoring this species.

Captain Joe Jerome of North East Salt Water tags fish on his saltwater fishing charters in Maine, and is one of more than 450 active taggers who tag over 15,000 fish annually.  If you're interested in becoming a tagger yourself, check out the Society's website to find out how you can become a member. https://www.littoralsociety.org/fish-tagging.html