Using the Data
Tag return rates are less than 1 percent, which means thousands of tags must be deployed before you see any real results. Once a tagged fish is retrieved, the information is extremely valuable. Scientists can determine growth patters and migration routes. For anglers, this same information can help them find the fish.

"I tag for selfish reasons," says Capt. Paul Ivey, who won the Atlantic Captain of the Year Award four times from 2000 to 2005. "I don't do it for the publicity. I tag fish to help gather data. I'm interested in where these fish go."

With information gathered from the early days of the program tagging tuna, fishery managers saw that tuna did in fact cross the Atlantic, meaning that catches overseas affect the population of fish off the U.S. "NOAA told us not to worry about the French fleets catching up tons of tuna, yet some of the fish I had tagged were re-caught off Africa," Barrett says.

"During the 1980s, everybody was going to the canyons for tuna," Barrett says. "The charter boats had this term, 'rolling the doughnut,' which meant you got skunked. Back then, nobody was rolling the doughnut. But we realized the one thing missing was that no one was tagging these fish, so we couldn't capture any information."

As the 1990s came around, Barrett began to see more guys rolling the doughnut. He became an advisor to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, and the numbers proved what his eyes were seeing — the tuna were disappearing.

"Tagging of these fish helped scientists prove that yellowfin and tuna in the Atlantic make the crossing into European waters and the Mediterranean," Barrett says. "Frank Mather was among the first scientists to make this argument for bluefin tuna, but the tagging done by captains and anglers in the Atlantic proved that yellowfin also make the crossing."

As more data became available, it was apparent that a global approach would be the only way to conserve the dwindling populations of tuna. The battle still rages today, but thanks to tagging, scientists have more data to help fishery managers base their decisions.

When asked how many tag returns he's had on tuna, Anderson says, "I'm not sure of the exact number, but they certainly number in the hundreds. NMFS had so many of my transatlantic tag returns that they eventually stopped reporting on it in their annual newsletter. Although NMFS indicated budgetary reasons for publication cessation, those knowledgeable indicated a number of their scientists supporting the two-stock/little-mixing theory were embarrassed. It also threatened the federal funding for their research. Politics at its finest."

The Tag/Flag program also made an impact on the local tournament scene. More events introduced tag-and-release categories or installed an all-release format. "The Tag/Flag program really did raise the level of consciousness. It showed that the only way we could learn anything about these fish was to poke a tag in them," Barrett says. "The information received helped raise the value of tuna as a resource and a game fish."

Promoting conservation and tagging efforts remains an uphill battle today, but thanks to the forward thinking of men such as Bill Shedd and Greg Stotesbury, not to mention the countless captains and anglers who take the time to tag fish, we now know more about migratory fish than ever before. The AFTCO Tag/Flag competition will be missed, but the work of all those involved will never be forgotten.

"Bill has a very unique way of looking at things, and he's very energetic and passionate about conservation," Barrett says. "Bill is constantly working behind the scenes. A lot of people might not know it, but he's done great things to help the resource. It was his enthusiasm that got so many people to tag fish."

 

The 2006 winners of the Tag/Flag Atlantic division. Back row (left to right): Rob Kramer (IGFA) and Bill Shedd. Middle row: John Jennings, Jules Boudreau, Capt. Burt Moss, Capt. Gary Cannell and Capt. Ray Rosher. Front row: Bob DeGabrielle and Capt. Bubba Carter.