Valhalla Tags a Prize

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The local fishing boat Valhalla (LK 687) has won this year's NAFC fish tagging prize draw, and donated the prize to the Fishermen's Mission.

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Fishermen's Mission Superintendent Aubrey Jamieson (right) accepts a cheque for £100 from skipper Ivan Garriock and NAFC fisheries technician Leanna Henderson.

The NAFC Marine Centre has been tagging fish in the waters around Shetland since 2013 to collect information on their distribution, movements and growth. To date a total of 8,528 fish have been tagged and released, of which 508 have been recaptured. The main species tagged are plaice, lemon sole and monks.

Fishermen who catch and return a tagged fish receive a reward of £5 (plus the value of the fish) and their name is entered in a £100 prize draw which is drawn in each summer. The winner of the 2016 draw was Ivan Garriock, skipper of the local fishing boat Valhalla (LK 687). Mr Garriock kindly chose to donate his prize to the Shetland branch of the Fishermen's Mission and a cheque was presented to local Mission Superintendent Aubrey Jamieson this week.

NAFC staff member Leanna Henderson took the opportunity to thank all of the fishermen, fish processors, and fish markets who have returned tagged fish or assisted with the project. She added that NAFC would be continuing to tag fish around Shetland and urged everyone to watch out for tagged fish in their catches.

Fish are tagged to obtain information on their movements and growth - information that can contribute to the more effective management of fish stocks. Tags identify individual fish so that when they are caught again it is possible to work out how far they have traveled since they were tagged, and how much they have grown. The fish tagged by NAFC are caught by its fishing vessel Atlantia, skippered by Arthur Johnson, using a specially modifed 'live-fish' trawl net before being measured, tagged and released back into the sea.

Further information about NAFC's fish tagging work is available here.

Anyone who finds a tagged fish should contact NAFC on 01595 772000 or by email: nafc.tags@uhi.ac.uk.

For any enquiries about this story please contact Leana Henderson: 01595772481, email leanna.henderson@uhi.ac.uk.