Tag Recovery

Albacore Research Foundation has deployed over 1,000 tags since 2001.

The reward for catching and returning a whole tagged fish is $500. If you find one in your Pacific Albacore Tuna catch, please separate the tagged fish from the other fish and contact NOAA Fisheries SWFSC at (858) 334-2800, your buyer, or ARF.

ARF and NOAA Fisheries together have deployed state of the art data archival tags that store a wealth of information within each tag that is later recaptured by commercial or recreational fishermen. These recovered tags provided much of what we now know of the seasonal and offshore movements of North Pacific Albacore Tuna in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and their eventual movement back to the west to spawn.

These tags also provide a highly detailed record of diving behavior and temperature at depth of the environment in which the fish swim. This minute-by-minute data has since been used to provide detailed life history information to support a host of studies looking at how Pacific Albacore Tuna move, dive, surface and forage throughout their watery world; all essential information for the fishery and for sound management.

See NOAA Fisheries information on tagging and tag recovery here.

News footage of the tagging program here.