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Do Tags Exceeding 2% of Total Body Weight Impair Lake Sturgeon Movement?
Author(s) -
Snobl Zachary R.,
Koenigs Ryan P.,
Bruch Ronald M.,
Binkowski Fredrick P.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
north american journal of fisheries management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.587
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1548-8675
pISSN - 0275-5947
DOI - 10.1080/02755947.2015.1069425
Subject(s) - acipenser , lake sturgeon , biological dispersal , body weight , fish <actinopterygii> , fishery , biology , zoology , environmental science , sturgeon , medicine , endocrinology , population , environmental health
A common guideline for attaching or imbedding transmitters for fish is that the transmitter weight should not exceed 2% of the total weight in air of a fish. This guideline is thought to limit the negative effects of tagging, but little research supports it. Our objectives were to compare the postrelease dispersal rates of 48 hatchery‐reared fingerling Lake Sturgeon Acipenser fulvescens (265–305 mm, 80–100 g) surgically implanted with sonic transmitters equating to 2% and 4% of fish body weight, and to compare the dispersal rates between fish stocked in two river systems in Wisconsin. Downstream dispersal rates of the 2% and 4% treatments were not significantly different within the individual rivers but were significantly different between rivers. We recommend that transmitters weighing up to 4% of total body weight can be used without effects on the movement of fingerling Lake Sturgeon. Received January 6, 2015; accepted June 29, 2015