The fate of intracoelomic acoustic transmitters in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) post-smolts and wider considerations for causal factors driving tag retention and mortality in fishes ...

• Main Authors: Lawrence, M. J., Wilson, B. M., Reid, G. K., Hawthorn, C., English, G., Black, M., Leadbeater, S., McKindsey, C. W., Trudel, M.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: figshare 2024
• Subjects: Ecology; FOS: Biological sciences; Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified; Developmental Biology; Inorganic Chemistry; FOS: Chemical sciences; Science Policy; Mental Health; Atlantic salmon; Salmo salar
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.6945598; https://springernature.figshare.com/collections/The_fate_of_intracoelomic_acoustic_transmitters_in_Atlantic_salmon_Salmo_salar_post-smolts_and_wider_considerations_for_causal_factors_driving_tag_retention_and_mortality_in_fishes/6945598

Abstract Acoustic telemetry is a widely used method in assessing behavioural dynamics in fishes. Telemetry transmitters (tags) are often surgically implanted in the coelom of the animal with limited in situ testing and sometimes only assuming that they have minimal rates of post-release tag shedding and mortality. However, fish are capable of expelling tags and mortalities do occur following release, with the mechanism (s) underlying these effects not well-understood. The purpose of this research was to address causal factors underlying tag expulsion and tagging mortality in fishes. We conducted an empirical assessment of tag retention and post-surgical mortality rates in post-smolt Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) fitted with dummy (non-transmitting) acoustic tags over a 92-day monitoring period. This was complimented with a meta-analysis of factors affecting tag retention and post-surgical mortality rates in the wider literature. Post-smolt salmon had high rates of tag expulsion (54.8%), impaired growth, and ...