Coded Wire Tag Use with Juvenile Channel Catfish: Evaluation of Mortality, Retention, and Growth

Abstract

AbstractThe Channel Catfish Ictalurus punctatus is a popular sport fish that is routinely stocked into north‐temperate U.S. lakes and reservoirs by natural resource management agencies. We experimentally tested the use of an internal coded wire tag (CWT) as a method for nonlethal batch marking of individuals. The retention of CWTs and their influence on individual growth and mortality remain unexplored for juvenile Channel Catfish. Both attributes were quantified and compared between age‐0 fingerlings and age‐1 yearlings at various time points (i.e., after 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, and monthly thereafter) of our 4‐month experiment. For both age‐classes, CWT retention was high (90–100%), with no observed increases in mortality or effects on growth rate. Our findings suggest that CWTs are a reliable, effective means of marking juvenile Channel Catfish. Hence, we recommend their use by management agencies to differentiate between hatchery‐reared and wild‐produced individuals, which can be useful when assessing the efficacy of stocking programs.