Status of Stocks & Multispecies Assessment Program
Advances in Skate Management and Research: Skate Tagging Project
Figure 4. A small Alaska skate with a tag attached to the left wing. The measuring board on which the skate rests is marked in increments of 1.0 cm.
Some of the most enduring skate biology questions in Alaska regard the movement of skates. Do they move around much? If so, how far, and when? Does movement behavior change with age?
To begin to answer these questions, the AFSC initiated what is intended to be a long-term tagging study of B. parmifera in the BSAI in summer 2008. We also anticipate that tagging data will be useful for studying skate growth.
Tagging of skates took place during the RACE Division's summer EBS shelf survey. The extensive coverage of the survey and the regular occurrence of skates in the survey catch made the EBS survey an ideal platform for skate tagging.
Skates in good condition were removed from the catch and tagged with plastic tags imprinted with individual tag numbers and contact information. Tags were attached to the left wing of skates (Fig. 4) by inserting the tag through the wing so that the barbed end of the tag was locked between two of the cartilaginous rays that extend outwards from the body cavity.
Recovery of tagged skates is expected to occur primarily in the commercial fisheries; each person returning a tag receives a NMFS skate research sweatshirt. In 2008, approximately 1,200 skates were tagged in the EBS. As of December 2008, seven tags had been returned.
