Back from a tag fishing trip!

We are back from a successful tag fishing trip!

The objective was to recover satellite tags that had been deployed on Atlantic halibut around the Gulf of St. Lawrence one year ago. These tags were set to release from their host fish in early September, and we had 3 sea-going teams based in Gaspé (QC), Port au Choix (NL) and Charlottetown (PE). All teams were equipped with goniometers (tag finding antennas) and ready to board fishing vessels to recover tags popping off in all sectors.

With the help of halibut harvesters and industry representatives, we managed to recover as many as 21 out of 23 floating tags! These recovered tags will yield full archived datasets that can then be used to model the migrations of these large animals over a seasonal cycle, and to geolocate key spawning areas, which remain unknown to date. This information will feed into the stock assessment process and contribute to the sustainable exploitation of this important resource.

We thank the Food, Fish and Allied Workers (NL), the Association des Capitaines-Propriétaires de la Gaspésie (QC) the Prince Edward Island Fishermen's Association (PE) and the Gulf Nova Scotia Fleet Planning Board (NS) for their precious help with the logistics.