983,000 fish and counting: HELP US ENSURE THE HEALTH OF OUR FISHERIES FOR YEARS TO COME

​Society members have tagged over 983,000 fish, more than any volunteer tagging program in the country! 

The American Littoral Society’s Fish Tagging scientific research program boasts over 983,000 fish tagged by volunteer anglers since its inception in 1965. Originally, the Society focused its tagging efforts towards coastal Atlantic sharks. During the early 1970's, in response to a precipitous decline in striped bass stocks, the Society's Fish Tagging Program decided to pivot its target species to striped bass, and other fishes of the littoral zone, such as summer flounder (fluke), bluefish, tautog and black seabass. More than 5% of those tagged fish have been recaptured.

Every April 15, the data that has been gathered over the previous 12 months is sent to the National Marine Fisheries Service, at Woods Hole, MA, and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. Our fish tagging program led by Society staffer Emily McGuckin includes over 450 taggers involved in the program who tag upwards of 12,000 fish per year. Tagging is a way of monitoring wildlife, and it is especially important for fishes because they spend most of their lives out of researchers’ sight. 

We are doing everything we can to tag fish in the least harmful way possible. This includes using the new dart tags which allows the tagger to keep the fish out of the water for less time and also hurts the fish less leading to decreased potential mortality.

Help us hit ONE MILLION tagged fish!