CODED WIRE TAGS

Fritz, the Fish Man, Kraus taught us about coded wire tags. He told us that these tags are placed injected into the heads of hatchery salmon when they are fry. The tags identify the hatchery that the salmon came from. In order to find the tagged salmon when they return as adults, the hatchery personnel also clip off the adipose of the fry. That way they are easier to spot. To locate the coded wire tag, the biologist needs to use a metal detector. The head of the adult salmon is cut into very small pieces, with each piece passed through the metal detector. When a piece beeps, indicating that it has a metal coded wire tag in it, the piece is cut smaller and smaller until the tag is found.

Fritz showing us a picture of salmon fry with coded wire tags in their heads. The metal detector is blue. Fritz cutting the head of a salmon, searching for the coded wire tag using the metal detector.

Once again, special thanks to Fritz Kraus of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.