RETENTION AND SURVIVAL RATES ASSOCIATED WITH THE USE OF T-BAR ANCHOR TAGS IN MARKING YELLOW PERCH

We assessed retention and short-term mortality rates associated with tagging yellow perch (Perca flavescens) with t-bar anchor tags (FD-94 Floy ® tags) by conducting 2- to 4-d net-pen trials. Yellow perch were captured from two South Dakota lakes with trap nets during October 2000 and 2001, when water temperatures ranged from 9o to 13o C. Retention and mortality rates for yellow perch (total length range: 151 - 266 mm) tagged from East 81 Slough during October of 2000 (n=19) were 100% and 5%, respectively. Retention and mortality rates for yellow perch (total length range: 265 - 325 mm) tagged from Pelican Lake during October of 2001 (n=22) were 95% and 0%, respectively. Based on average results, anchor tag retention (mean=97.7%) was high and tagging mortality (mean=2.6%) was low for yellow perch collected and tagged using this sampling approach. Yellow perch tagged in Pelican Lake were significantly larger than yellow perch tagged in East 81 Slough (t = 13.929, df = 19, P < 0.001), but neither size-dependent tag retention (χ 2 = 0.885, df = 1, P = 0.347), nor size-dependent tagging mortality (χ 2 = 1.187, df = 1, P = 0.276) was observed.