Underwater tagging of deep-sea redfish

No abstracts are to be cited without prior reference to the author.

The poster describes a tagging method using an Underwater Tagging Equipment (UTE), developed in collaboration between the Marine Research Institute in Iceland and the Marine Device Manufacturer STAR-ODDI. The tagging device can be attached either to a pelagic- or demersal trawl dorsally in front of the codend. Some of the fish that enters the trawl is diverted through the UTE where it enters an adjustable tagging cradle where the fish can be held, adjusted and released. The tagging equipment is controlled from the vessel through a cable wire where the researcher can view the fish on television by four video cameras. The person tagging the fish can adjust the cradle and move the tagging gun into place and tag the fish. The tags used in the UTE have been dummy tags that can in the future be replaced by active electronic tags that can give ambient environmental parameters e.g. temperature and depth profiles. The UTE has been used to tag redfish of size between 32-52 cm, but other species have entered the equipment, such as saithe, and have been tagged with success. The tagging equipment can therefore be used for tagging medium size round fish such as tusk, cod and haddock. The paper describes briefly the UTE device and it's including results of the first recaptured fish from tagging cruises in October 2003 and June 2004.