An overview of the tarpon genetic recapture study in Florida – a citizen science success story

Abstract

The tarpon Genetic Recapture Study started in an effort to determine how often a tarpon is caught and released in Florida’s growing and lucrative fishery by using DNA fingerprinting techniques as a tool to identify and track individual tarpon. Previous research on central and southwest Gulf of Mexico fisheries showed that most tarpon can survive short-term catch-and-release fishing practices. However, fishing pressure is intense during peak season, and tarpon fishing varies in time and space throughout the state. In this study, a novel method of obtaining fish tissue replaced traditional fin clipping, and citizen-scientists were utilized to collect DNA samples and record capture information from tarpon they caught. Benefits of using citizen scientists included being able to sample fish statewide and collect data on a species that is difficult to catch in great number. From the pilot study in 2005 through the study’s end in 2014, 24,572 samples were received from volunteer anglers throughout the coastal southeastern United States, and of those, 22,992 were collected from tarpon caught in Florida waters. tarpon samples were returned from fish caught along the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts and Florida Keys, but regionally the database was depauperate in samples from north Florida. Public outreach was a critical and integral component of study promotion and angler involvement. Future work based on recapture data will provide information needed to estimate recapture rates, evaluate seasonal and regional movement patterns, determine site fidelity, establish connectivity of tarpon in Florida waters and over the long-term could determine if juvenile tarpon sampled within Florida nursery habitats supply the adult fishery.