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Adopt-A-Fish Update: April 21, 2005 an adopted fish? Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks With the exception of pallid sturgeon, which must be released immediately after capture, there is no law that states that you cannot keep a radioed or any other type of tagged fish. However, we would prefer that radioed individuals be released. There is a large amount of effort that goes in to capturing and performing a surgery on a fish. If these fish must be harvested, we encourage the person to contact us and return the radio. Those little radios are quite expensive and we may be able to re-implant the radio in another fish. If the fish has another type of tag attached to it, we encourage people to write down that tag number, date and location of capture, and a length if possible. Then call the Fish, Wildlife and Parks office near you and we will give you the history of that fish, if you wish. The radios generally have a life span of 3-5 years and we have seen some of the other tags last over 10 years. Their past tells a long story, and if they are harvested, that story ends there. Many of our Adopt-a-Fish were starting to warm up a bit and moved around a few miles this past week. Our mover of the week was Adopt-a-Fish paddlefish #3, A.K.A. Pumba, Indigo, Pedro, Beefinator, or Dakota, depending on which school you are from. This paddlefish moved up the Missouri River over 30 miles since we found him the prior week. Missouri River Adopt-A-Fish is a joint effort of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Walleyes Unlimited, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and The Billings Gazette. Weekly updates will be posted on the Adopt-A-Fish site and in The Gazette each Thursday through April and May. |
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Walleyes Forever Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks |