Re: Fluke migratory habits and taggiung
Since 1993, I tagged 149 fluke in NJ with ALS tags and 6 were recaptured within a year of the tagging date. The first one was tagged in August at 14" and won first place in the Youth Division of the Governor's Cup Surf fishing tournament at 17". Then a 14" tagged in September was recaptured in the Hudson Canyon by a commercial fishing vessel in April at 15". Next, a 12" tagged in July was recaptured the next July in Charlestown, RI at 13". Then I caught the same one that I tagged earlier in the day 4 miles offshore in July. Next, a 16" I tagged in Manasquan Inlet in May got caught in April offshore of Accomack, VA by a dragger. The last tag return that I got was from a fluke that I tagged in Barnegat Inlet that got caught 2 weeks later near Barnegat Light. I think that most recaptured tagged fish don't get reported. I met a Delaware Bay netter who has > 600 ALS tags that he never reported and most of his friends don't report the tagged fish that they catch. I also found my tags cut in half and laying on the ground. Most poachers don't report tagged fish.
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