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January 4, 2005
TAG A Giant is Back in NC Waters for the 10th Season Tagging Bluefin Tuna

The objective of the Tag-A-Giant (TAG) program is to gain knew knowledge on the biology of bluefin tuna to reduce the uncertainties surrounding the management of bluefin in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. TAG uses a range of electronic tagging technologies to study the movements and behaviors of Atlantic bluefin tuna. TAG is meeting this objective by deploying tags in the eastern and western Atlantic. This research is establishing where and when bluefin tuna are spawning, and if they show site fidelity to the west or eastern breeding areas. We are also beginning to understand how the bluefin tuna movements change as the fish grow and how environmental variations affect their movements. This knowledge will improve stock assessments and subsequent management of bluefin tuna in the Atlantic Ocean. TAG data provide critical information about the biology of bluefin tuna in our west Atlantic waters. Our electronic tagging efforts in 2004 bring the total number of Atlantic bluefin tuna electronically tagged by the TAG team to 820.

January 5, 2005
Today was a picture perfect day for the start of TAG 2005. The seas were relatively calm with a three-foot swell, and the fish were biting. The TAG team tagged and fished on three vessels: the Calcutta with Captain John Jenkins, the Forty Something with Captain Dale Britt, and the Leslie Anne with Captain Gary Stuve. One surgery team led by Dr. Barbara Block and assisted by Stanford and Duke University graduate students and technicians went offshore with a handful of North Carolina boats. Together the teams electronically tagged fourteen bluefin tuna after handling fifteen fish. The fish were located off Cape Lookout Shoals in the area called Big Ten, Little Ten. Six vessels caught or transferred fourteen bluefin tuna ranging in size from 61 inches to 94 inches. All fish were tagged archivally with a 16 megabyte Lotek 2310 tag. Leading the transfer category, the Ashley Renaie, led by Captain Tommy Fletcher, transferred five bluefin tuna to the TAG team. Offshore with Captain Huebner passed two bluefin tuna including the largest fish of the day. Endless Pursuit with Captain John Barrett transferred one fish, and caught and released another. Another center console vessel successfully passed a large fish caught on stand-up gear after an impressive fight. The fish were caught in waters from 13.1 to 14.5 C temperatures. The TAG boats combined together to catch and release six fish. It was a great way to kick off TAG 2005.

January 7, 2005
The second day of fishing continued forward with a strong showing of the fish early in the morning. A3- 4 ft. swell greeted the fishers early on, but the day settled down and by afternoon conditions were picture perfect. From prior to sunrise until about 9 am, one tag boat, the 40 Something, transferred and tagged 8 bluefin tuna from the charter vessels and TAG team boats fishing off Morehead City, North Carolina. No single vessel stood out today but a half dozen boats transferred fish today. Once again fish ranged across several year classes from 70 inches up to 93 inches. The highlight of the day was the placement of the first two pop up satellite tags on large fish. The tags are scheduled to pop off 240 days from today.

January 8, 2005
The day began calm and the bite started early. Winds increased significantly as the day progressed. However the early bite quickly overwhelmed the one TAG boat, Forty Something. Captain Dale Britt negotiated the traffic well and succeeded in helping the Morehead and Beaufort sport fishing fleet transfer 10 bluefin tuna ranging in size. Of the 10 fish, 8 were tagged with archival, pop-up satellite tags or conventional tags. Fishing began at first light and the bite remained hot until about 11 am. Ashley Renaie continued their successful fishing effort with Captain Tommy Fletcher catching and transferring 3 fish. The Impulse with Captain Donald Lane transferred 4 bluefin tuna. The largest fish of the day was caught by the Fishing Frenzy out of Oregon Inlet. They succeeded in transferring a 95 inch fish of significant girth that weighed over 500 lbs to the TAG boat. The Calcutta was chartered but carried along a team of TAG scientists and tagged and released two fish, one of which was transferred.

January 9, 2005
The day was rough and cold. An unexpected change of weather appeared to affect the bite as well as the scientists. Fishing was slower than in the previous days, with the TAG boats handling nine bluefin. With the 5 ft. seas and occasional larger swells, seven were successfully transferred for tagging, but two fish broke off at the back of the tagging boats. Of these seven, two were conventionally tagged, four were archival tagged, and one was pop up tagged. The hot boat of the day was Top Billing, with Captain Bobby Garmany. He transferred three to the Calcutta and had two more on his own. Captain Rocky Hardison on the O Lucky Me also transferred three fish including a double header. The largest fish measured today was 89.4 inches, a girthy fish ~440 lbs. Several trophy fish up to 93 inches were also taken by the Carolina fleet close to the tag boats.

January 10, 2005
Today began as a slick calm day with a summer-like sunrise and the tag teams were greeted by the call for a transfer from the F/V Houdini who had a double header. This early call was a good omen as 17 fish were tagged and released with electronic tags off the North Carolina shores. Five fish received PAT tags and 12 fish were surgically implanted with an electronic archival tag. PAT tags are satellite tags that ride on the fish and detach at a pre programmed date. The bite and tagging action was consistent all morning and lasted up until noon with a good showing of large fish. Mixed in were some small ones that provide hope for a steady fishery in the future. What made the day special was the great participation by the entire fleet of boats. Charters were active and participants came from North America and Europe to participate in the tag program. The TAG transfer vessel 40-Something, led by Captain Dale Britt led the way with rapid transfers and a seasoned team led by Dr. Tom Williams and Stanford graduate student Andre Boustany. The Calcutta team continued its consistent pace and took the largest transfer fish of the year from the Delta Dawn with stand-up specialist Dennis Braid. This fish measured approximately 95 inches in curved length. Over 13 boats transferred fish. The fishers became shrouded in a thick fog as warm air over cold water produced a particularly thick layer.

January 11, 2005
Once again spectacular weather- beyond expectations met the small fleet of vessels that ventured out. The fog of the prior day lifted and together ten boats worked the Little Ten region southeast of the Knuckle buoy. Five PAT tags were put out and three archival tags were placed in fish that ranged from 71 inches to 97 inches. The largest fish of the day was caught by the Ashley Renaie. Fish were captured in very green waters which indicates high productivity. The ocean was alive with whales, seabirds, dolphins, mola mola and large tunas. Tunas were caught in waters that ranged from 13.9 oC to 15oC. The day was notable for large fish (7 over 90 inches) which all received the latest model of the Wildlife Computers PAT pop up satellite tag. Several fish were pulled off at leader a sign of the size class of fish we were handling. These fish most likely will head to the Gulf of Mexico to breed in the near future and appear to be passing through Carolina- a place we guess that many of these same fish have visited in prior years. DNA samples were taken from all fish which should help to delineate the stock origin of the fish.

January 12, 2005
Today will be remembered as one of the finest days in the entire history of TAG-A-Giant program. The weather was warm and summer-like and the fishing was hot. January in Morehead City and Beaufort occasionally offers up one of these spectacular weather days The TAG transfer boat began the day behind the Delta Dawn where stand up fishers led by Dennis Braid were fighting bluefin tunas. The tagging boat Calcutta would find itself three more times stern to stern with Delta Dawn in the morning hours. Quick action by Captain John Jenkins on the F/V Calcutta assisted by wiremen Daryl Brower and Allen Willis helped a tagging team from Stanford University led by Barbara Block, Andreas Walli, Robbie Schallert and Matt Price to overall place 14 tags on 13 bluefin (1 double tagged with pop up satellite and archival tags) on a variety of size classes ranging from 60 inch fish to 95 inch fish. The day involved careful positioning with 8 separate transfer boats to the F/V Calcutta. Notable today was the Hot Tuna team, a commercial vessel that transferred two large bluefin- and featured a 100 lb dog that almost caught the transfer tennis ball. The A-1-A with owner Mr. Bill Waldorf on board pop-up satellite tagged their second giant bluefin, and to date have three electronic tagged. The tagging team led by Captain Dale Britt on the F/V 40 Something with mates CR and Cameron, Dr. Tom Williams of the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Stanford and Duke students Andre Boustany, Gaelin Rosenwaks, Heather and Eric worked a different area in the morning east of the shoals and succeeded in placing pop-up tags on the largest fish of the day a 94 inch fish passed to the vessel by F/V Tom Billing with captain Bobby Garmany. They transferred three more from two New Jersey vessels that came down to join in the TAG program- giving the tag team the best day so far of the 2005 season. The ride home along the shoals was the most spectacular of recent memory- gannets diving, loons, dolphins and false albacore highlighted the trip back along a glassy calm sea.

January 13, 2005
The tag team was met by a rapidly rising sea breeze and swell as the TAG boats headed out in the early morning. Sea conditions deteriorated rapidly and the small fleet of boats working east of Cape Lookout spent 4 hours tagging in 5-6 foot seas with larger breaking swells. Despite the inferior conditions for tagging the hot bite of the prior days remained. However, as TAG scientists and fishing crews have learned before it is very challenging to transfer or catch fish, lip hook and tag them in the best of conditions, the high seas made the fishing ballet even more difficult. Delta Dawn with the Dennis Braid and Dick Meirowitz two stand-up fishers passed off the first fish to F/V Calcutta just after first light, followed by a large fish passed between the TAG boats from the TAG fishing team aboard the Leslie Anne. The Ashley Renaie, Benchmark and Top Billing also passed fish to Calcutta with some being tagged and others pulling off at the tagging boat. Top Billing succeeded in passing two fish to Calcutta. Aboard F/V 40 Something the team took transfer fish from Topp Billing and Neverland. One fish pulled off and the tough lip hook positions in rolling waves made entire morning a bit frustrating. The team aboard the 40 Something caught, tagged and released one of the smallest fish of the season- a 55 inch fish. This is the first year the team is archival tagging the juvenile bluefin tuna with in the hopes that long tracks of adolescent fish will be obtained. To date, TAG has a 4.8 year track as the single longest archival recovery in the Atlantic ocean archival tag program. With safety as a priority the tagging boats headed in early prior to lunch at Duke with the team after a total of 7 fish were tagged for the day. This brings the current total in the eight days of fishing at TAG to 87 bluefin tuna! This is outstanding and the fish diversity in size classes with mature, adolescent and juvenile fish, along with the remarkable weather conditions have been the best ever. A strong cold front will slow down tagging for the weekend but with good weather forecast for next week Tag scientists hope to get out the 900th electronic tag in the Atlantic program on the next fishing day.

NC 2005 tag deployments as of 1/14/05

January 19, 2005 An ice-cold morning greeted the TAG scientists and fishers who had not been on the water for four prior days. Today was less than ideal. Temperatures were in the teens and ice quickly formed from sea spray on the back decks. Unfortunately the cold chill and storm have disrupted the patterns of bluefin around the Cape, as the bluefin seem to have disappeared. Ten boats spread out and looked for bluefin from the west and east side of Cape Lookout shoals, no strikes or hook ups were reported all the way to Ocracoke. It was calm but cold and a hard edge was visible as the sea smoked from the warm Gulf Stream waters. Conditions look right, and birds and dolphin were evident along with pelagic rays, a few unidentified sharks and loggerhead sea turtles. Hopefully two days after the storm will produce more electronic tagged bluefin.

January 20, 2005
Another day, without a sign of the big fish. The weather started out a bit rough- but quickly settled out to a sunny and relatively calm day. Everything was perfect however the bluefin were missing once again. A few boats caught fish that were taken in the angling category. Things were eerily quiet for January in Morehead City. Hopefully the bite will be back tomorrow. With snow in the forecast the fishing conditions could be challenging.

January 21, 2005
Today was cold and a bit blustery and the conditions were challenging. Only two bites occurred among the ten boats that ventured out and luckily one was on the TAG fishing boat Leslie Anne. An epic battle ensued between the owner of the Leslie Anne, Mr. Richard Worley and a bluefin estimated over 550 lbs. The fish was brought to leader and transferred successfully to the surgery team aboard the 40 Something in rough seas. Unfortunately for TAG scientists the fish was lost very close to being put in the boat for tagging. In conditions like this, its tough to complete the complex efforts required to transfer and tag bluefin. The bluefin swam away unharmed from the interaction free of leader and hook. The fish was caught in 54oF temperatures in the afternoon, west of the shoals. TAG boats hope to try again tomorrow prior to a major storm that may interrupt operations for the remainder of the 2005 TAG season.

We began the day today by having a brief memorial for our colleague, Mr. Richard Novak, who passed away one year ago today during TAG Carolina 2004. We announced our TAG effort to establish a Richard Novak Scholarship Fund for Bluefin Tuna Research at the Duke Marine Lab. For more information, or if you would like to make a donation in memory of Rich - send a check directly to the Richard Novak Scholarship Fund, Duke University Marine Laboratory, 135 Duke Marine Lab Rd., Beaufort, NC 28516. For any questions, please contact Barbara Block, bblock@stanford.edu . A research scholarship for the study of bluefin in North Carolina waters will be given out every year from this fund beginning in 2006.

January 22, 2005
The TAG team boats went out with the Morehead City fleet of charter boats to one more time see if the bluefin tuna remained in Carolina waters. Cold weather and blustery conditions forced the vessels in by noon. No bites or hook ups were reported. Whales gannets and cold plankton rich seas are along the coast. Menhaden are plentiful. Only the bluefin are missing. Clearly the winter weather has worked against the tagging teams this past week.

January 25, 2005
TAG team boats F/V Calcutta and the Leslie Anne checked out a tip that bluefin were on the British Splendor wreck in conditions that were less than ideal in the morning but smoothed out in the afternoon. Despite a beautiful ride and areas that appeared “fishy”, no bluefin were seen.

January 26, 2005
TAG-a-Giant team members had a memorable day on the water in conditions that transitioned from a beautiful moonlit morning start to rough conditions at best. The TAG team boats worked as a team and after a long drought of fishing success- produced a double header of two small bluefin tuna aboard the 40 Something and a single large fish aboard the F/V Calcutta to end TAG-a-Giant 2005 on a very positive note- Electronic tag # 90 for Carolina 2005 and the 900th tag for the program were placed in a 94 inch fish that was extremely girthy and caught in very cold waters 52oF waters. The bluefin was caught among dolphins and gannets diving in a notable bite. This bluefin was challenging to catch for many reasons, and reluctant to come into the boat, but looked great swimming away with a strong kick. The catch and release of tag 900 made the team very happy. The teams endurance paid off on this day and the teamwork of the TAG captains, crews and scientists.

January 28, 2005
TAG-A-Giant is officially over in North Carolina. The Winners of the TAG-A-Giant Transfer Competition are listed below and prizes will be given out late next week. We want to thank the 30 vessels that participated in the transfer competition for their remarkable combined efforts in helping the TAG team put out a total of 93 tags, 90 of which are electronic tags and three are conventional tags. Overall the fishing was excellent at the start with superb weather. The tagging slowed down as the month progressed and cold weather and storms moved across North Carolina waters. Of the 93 total tags placed in fish we had 18 fish over 90 inches in measured curved length. This is one of the largest showings of big fish we have had at TAG and all of these fish have pop up satellite tags that will show where they go to breed as well as feed. The tags are due to report 7-9 months from the deployment dates- stay tuned to this website for more information. In addition to these large fish we have had a good showing a young adolescent bluefin tuna in the 65 inch class and below. This class of fish included the archival tagging of a 54 inch bluefin tuna. This year, unlike years in the past we tagged all of these fish (12) with Lotek 2310 archival tags. A few more have been tagged through the years and this provides long-term records for these younger year classes of fish to provide comparisons with on going research on the mature fish. The tags have the capacity to record 5 year continuous records and we hope to see longterm biology of the movements of these small year classes of bluefin. TAG primarily placed electonic tags in fish that ranged between 73 and 90 inches. This is the same size classes we typically see in North Carolina however this year for reasons unknown – potentially the significant body of cold water close to the coast, there appeared to be a smaller body of adolescent fish here. We will provide more information shortly on this years tagging.