DNR wants anglers to report marked fish

If you fish in the Great Lakes and happen to catch a marked or tagged fish, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is asking you to report it.

MICHIGAN (WPBN/WGTU) -- If you fish in the Great Lakes and happen to catch a marked or tagged fish, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is asking you to report it.

The DNR said reporting the fish will help them collect critical information about the state's fish populations and trends.

The department has used a coded-wire tag program to "mass mark" various fish species in the state.

The program has been used since the 1980s and provides data that helps fisheries biologists determine the value of naturally reproduced fish versus stocked fish.

According to the DNR, the program involved implanting a small, coded-wire tag, invisible to the naked eye, into the snout of a fish.

A fish containing a coded-wire tag can be identified because its adipose fin (the small, fleshy fin between the dorsal and tail fins) has been removed.

Anglers who catch these tagged fish can help by recording needed information about the fish, removing and freezing the fish’s snout, and taking it to one of the designated drop-off locations around the state.

Beginning in 2018, all rainbow trout stocked in Lake Huron and Lake Michigan (including tributaries) will contain a coded-wire tag.

All chinook salmon stocked in Lake Huron will contain a coded-wire tag, while only a portion of those stocked in Lake Michigan will contain the tag.

For more details about the DNR's mass marking efforts, visit their website.

Let's block ads! (Why?)