SC Marine Game Fish Tagging Program
Recaptures
Fish tagged in this program have been recaptured as far north as Martha's
Vineyard, Massachusetts, as far west as Galveston, Texas, and as far south as
the eastern tip of Brazil. A tagged blue marlin made history by becoming the
first Atlantic blue marlin to be documented crossing the equator. This billfish
had been tagged off Georgetown, South Carolina and was recaptured several
months' later approximately 750 miles off the coast of Brazil. It had traveled a
minimum distance of 4,300 nautical miles from its original tagging location.
Prior to this recapture, it was believed that there were separate
non-integrating stocks of Atlantic blue marlin in the Northern and Southern
hemispheres. A similar tag and recapture occurred which dismissed the theory
that coastal migratory species in the South Atlantic would not travel into the
Gulf of Mexico, when two cobia were recaptured off Galveston, Texas. The fish
had initially been tagged off South Carolina.
Some of the more remarkable recaptures over the years include:
- A white marlin tagged off Charleston, South Carolina in July 1997 was recaptured 3 years later off Cuba.
- A black drum tagged in April 2000 just north of the Isle of Palms, South Carolina was recaptured a year later at the Mann's Harbor Bridge, located on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
- Four flounder traveled distances ranging from 200 to 360 miles south in two to four months after tagging.
- A smooth dogfish, initially tagged off South Carolina, was recaptured off Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. This has been the northernmost recovery of any species recaptured in this program.
- Several bluefish have been tagged at various locations off South Carolina that were recaptured off Long Island, New York.
- More recently, a tarpon tagged in July 2000 was at liberty for just over a year when it was recaptured in August 2001. The same angler originally tagged and recaptured the fish in the same location just north of Charleston, South Carolina.
- The cooperation of anglers has been a key factor in the success of the program. In 1993 it was decided to develop a list of priority species. The public was asked to discontinue tagging red drum under 18 inches, spotted seatrout, and flounder, and to concentrate on specific species outlined within the new guidelines of the program. Currently the tagging program lists over 30 species of fish eligible for tagging. Included in this are coastal and highly migratory species, reef fish (species in the snapper-grouper complex), and specific inshore marine gamefish.