We are now entering the busiest part of the year for anglers, and there will be plenty of sea anglers hitting the rocks, beaches and estuaries, or heading out on the water in small boats, kayaks etc. over the summer months. We are asking all those anglers to keep a watchful eye out for fish that have been tagged as part of the Marine Sportfish Tagging Programme, which monitors the movement of certain fish species around the Irish coast and beyond. The programme relies on the help of anglers and charter skippers to tag sharks, skates and rays, but also relies on anglers to record and report any tagged fish they might catch. So we are asking all sea anglers to keep an eye out for those tagged fish and to report them to us.
If you do catch a tagged fish, the print on the tag can be small, and sometimes it’s easier to take a photo of the tag number with your phone to make sure you can read it correctly.
We have included some samples of tagged fish below so you know what to look for. What we need you to record is:
- Tag number & colour
- Date of recapture
- Place of recapture
- Species
- Sex
- Measurements (Weight and/or length & girth/wingspan)
Please report any tagged fish you recapture to: shane.oreilly@fisheriesireland.ie
We promise to keep all anglers informed of the details of the tagged fish, and we send out an MSTP baseball cap to everyone who takes the time to report a recaptured fish. We look forward to hearing from you and tight lines 🎣 🎣 🎣
