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| Home » Fisheries Research and Development » Fish Tagging »

Coarse Fish Tagging Programme 2002 Results

Fish Tagged in Previous Years

A number of tagged fish that were stocked in previous years have been captured by anglers in 2002. Pike angling events held on the Grand Canal at Rahan in February 2002 were very successful. This area is currently being managed as a pike fishery and between 2000 and 2001, was stocked with 200 floy-tagged pike. In January 2002 anglers from the Dublin Pike Anglers Club fished this section. During their competition 26 anglers captured 70 pike to 17lbs.  Nine of these fish were floy-tagged.  The tagged fish were reported in good condition and exhibited a mean weight gain (since stocking) in excess of 14% (Table 1). 

Tullamore and District Angling Club held a competition on the same stretch of canal in February 2002. Forty-one anglers caught 67 pike to 15lbs.  One tagged pike was captured on this occasion and was reported to be in excellent condition.  Interestingly, this fish (Tag No. CFB 06283) was one of those captured by the Dublin Pike Anglers just two weeks previously.  This suggests that relocated fish can provide repeated angling sport on Inland Waterways.

Fish Tagged In 2002

To date, of the fish tagged and released into inland waterways in 2002, a total of 18 individual fish have been recaptured.  Anglers and members of the public have reported seventeen of these fish and one fish was recorded during an electrofishing survey conducted by the CFB (Table 5).  One fish was captured three times and another twice, giving a total of 21 verified tag returns.   To date, there have also been a number of confirmed recaptures of fish tagged in 2002 which are not included in the analysis.  Commonly this involves the reported capture of a tagged fish but a failure by the angler to record the tag number.  Large  (>7lb) Sheelin origin bream, for example, which were stocked at the Blundell Aqueduct (2000), near Edenderry regularly appear in angler catches (Pauric Kelly pers.comm).

An overall recapture rate of 4.4% was recorded. This represents a relatively good return over a short time period when compared with a similar programme conducted on the canals during the early 1990s, when a return rate of 4.2% was recorded over a period of several years (Conneely et al, 1993).

There are major differences in the recapture rates recorded between the different species, ranging from 0% for roach and perch to 29% for tench.  Indeed, tench represent marginally less than 9% of the total number of fish tagged and yet accounted for 66% of all tag recaptures, a disproportionately large number of all tag returns to date.  The reasons for this are unclear, but may relate to one or more of the following:

• Tench may have been feeding more heavily than the other species, given that they were approaching spawning.
• The tags may be more readily visible on the tench than on other species.
• Tench may be more closely examined by anglers than the other species, simply because they are less common.

While it is premature to draw any firm conclusions at this stage, there is considerable anecdotal evidence to suggest that stocked and relocated coarse fish enhance the long-term angling in a variety of recipient waters. This is evidenced by the capture of numerous tagged pike at Rahan (see Interim Report 1, 2002) and the large Sheelin bream which continue to be captured in the Edenderry and Leixlip sections of the Grand and Royal Canals.

One noteworthy event was the capture of a 7lb 11oz Sheelin bream from the harbour at Kilcock.  This fish was caught in July 2002, having been stocked over a year previously.  Indeed, it has been observed in other systems that relocated L. Sheelin bream can “disappear” for a number of years before featuring in angler catches (Michael Fitzpatrick, Northern Regional Fisheries Board, pers. comm.).  The results to date are greatly encouraging but more confirmed tag returns are crucial in monitoring the success of our current stocking programmes and in informing our future management plans for the inland waterways.

Angler awareness and co-operation is vital to the success of this project.  Extensive publicity and a move towards tagging fish stocked into the more enclosed canal systems has both increased the prospects of anglers capturing tagged fish and also their subsequent reporting of it.  Continued tagging of relocated pike and coarse fish will be necessary to increase our sample size and the likelihood of returns.

Next: Tagged Roach x Bream Hybrid Recaptured After Two years at Liberty
Previous: The wanderings of Irish tope

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