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Streamer Tag Loss from American Lobsters
Author(s) -
Rowe Sherrylynn,
Haedrich Richard L.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(2001)130<0516:stlfal>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - homarus , fishery , bay , american lobster , population , biology , crustacean , zoology , geography , demography , archaeology , sociology
Polyethylene streamer tags are commonly used in field studies of American lobsters Homarus americanus , but the loss rate of this tag and sources of variability in tag loss have not been investigated. By applying a permanent mark on American lobsters in Bonavista Bay, Newfoundland, we estimated that streamer tag loss after 8–12 months was about 18%. Molting affected streamer tag loss (40.0% tag loss for molted individuals and 11.1% for nonmolted individuals), but tag loss was unaffected by sex or size. This study demonstrates that there can be substantial loss of streamer tags from lobsters. The possibility that tag loss may introduce serious bias should be considered for estimates of population characteristics based on streamer‐tagged animals.