The Summerville Saltwater Anglers Club held our monthly meeting on the second Wednesday in February. Our speaker for the meeting was Robert Wiggers, who runs the tagging program for SCDNR. Robert gave a fantastic presentation and really shed some light on the program and what we hope to learn through fish tagging.
The tagging program is funded from the South Carolina Saltwater Recreational Fishing License and relies heavily upon anglers for tagging. One thing that has come as a result of anglers tagging fish is a greater awareness of conservation, by the anglers who are participating in this program. They become more engaged in the process and are able to gain a better understanding of the resource.
Robert also mentioned how much they have been able to learn about the different species that are studied through the program and in many cases this benefits local anglers greatly. SCDNR can learn how effective stocking programs are. They can also understand migration patterns of fish, which can tell them a lot about fish populations and can also affect regulations.
All of this information being collected can help angles stay informed and help us to make good informed decisions to help us maintain healthy fish stocks for future generations.
If you want to learn more about the fish tagging program you can go to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources website at www.dnr.sc.gov/marine/tagfish/tagfish.html I would also recommend Robert’s presentation to any fishing club or interested group of anglers. Tagging guns are available for purchase at local tackle shops and tags are available through DNR.
Andy Pickett
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