As part of BTT’s ongoing efforts to identify habitats that are important to the flats fishery for bonefish, tarpon, and permit, in 2012 we initiated a tagging program for juvenile tarpon in conjunction with guides in Campeche, Mexico. The mangrove creeks of Campeche are fantastic habitat for juvenile tarpon, and the region is full of habitats that support these juveniles as they grow to sub-adult size.
Raul Castaneda, owner of Tarpon Town, and the guides wanted to know if they were fishing for the same tarpon every year, if tarpon stayed in the same creek or moved among creeks, how fast the tarpon grow, and what other habitats are important in the area. In November 2012, we began the project by tagging 25 juvenile tarpon in the creeks. Additional tarpon were tagged by the guides after our departure.
Nearly three and a half years later, we recaptured our second fish. And believe it or not, the recaptured tarpon had tag number 0001. That’s right, the first juvenile tarpon that we ever tagged!
The results are a bit surprising. First, the tarpon didn’t grow nearly as much as we expected. The tarpon was 18.5” fork length when we tagged it, and 29” when it was recently recaptured by angler Don Arthur. 11 inches of growth in 3.5 years is much slower than we anticipated. With pristine habitats and plenty of food, why the growth rate was so slow is a mystery that we’ll have to investigate.
We also though the tarpon would have moved a considerable distance by the time it was more than 4 years old, but it was caught just one mile away from the tagging location. Maybe life in this area was too good to leave? Another mystery that requires more investigation.
