Development of humane and efficient methods of electronic tag attachment

The use of electronic tags is now established as a valuable technique for gaining high quality information about the behaviour and biology of free-ranging fish. With the recent development of longer life electronic data storage tags (DST's), it is essential to ensure that tags remain on fish for the full recording life of the device, and have minimal effect on the behaviour of the animal.

The aim of this project is to identify the most humane and efficient methods of tag attachment for a variety of fish species. The benefits will be maximise the return rates from future experiments with electronic tags and to ensure that experimental work carried out on behalf of Defra with live fish is conducted in as humane a manner as possible. We are currently conducting a number of experiments using the MK3 DST to assess methods of internal attachment on cod and the, smaller, MK4 DST to assess methods of internal and external attachment on sole, plaice, cod and thornback rays.