The Belize River Lodge BTT Tagging Challenge is an annual event where anglers and scientists work together, fishing for bonefish, permit, and Atlantic tarpon to collect important biological information while enjoying some of The Caribbean’s best fishing at Belize River Lodge.
Combining fishing and conservation, participants collect genetic samples from the fish they catch, as well as tag the fish with small identification tags, commonly termed ‘dart’ or ‘spaghetti’ tags. Collectively, these two methods provide essential information on fish movement, site fidelity, population connectivity, and population sizes of these iconic sport fish to help guide their management and conservation.
This years Tagging Challenge took place from March 26th to April 1st 2015, and was a great success. Anglers caught, tagged, and sampled dozens of tarpon and bonefish over the course of the week, but had no luck with the elusive permit. Anglers Chuck and Craig tagged the most bonefish, while Dennis tagged the largest, taking home new Sage 8 wt outfits, Costa Del Mar gear and Belize novelties. Nathan collected the most genetic samples from tarpon, while BTT Scientist Jake Brownscombe captured and sampled the largest fish during The Challenge, a 97 lb tarpon. It will be interesting to see how closely related this big tarpon is to others in Belize, as well as those in other regions of The Caribbean and Florida.
The Tagging Challenge also featured a talk by Jake on bonefish biology and conservation. Jake highlighted some of the exciting new scientific research findings on bonefish, including the fact that we are now aware of 12 different bonefish species worldwide, and many populations in The Caribbean and Western Atlantic move offshore to spawn around the new and full moons. Additionally, bonefish in some regions such as Puerto Rico have very high fidelity to isolated reef flats, while those in other regions, such as Eleuthera, The Bahamas, use much larger areas encompassing many sand flats and tidal creeks. With this information, we can better protect key habitats based on their scale and connectivity.
The tagging and genetics studies conducted during research angling trips are part of greater BTT programs operating throughout the Caribbean and Western Atlantic aimed at understanding the level of connectivity of various populations of bonefish, permit, and tarpon to better define the scale at which we must manage and conserve these species. These studies would not be possible without the support and enthusiasm of the anglers, guides, and outfitters that participate in events like the Belize River Lodge Tagging Challenge. A special thank you to Belize River Lodge, which kindly donated $4000 from the event to support BTT’s conservation initiatives!
