Welcome to the PIT Tag Information System
From PTAGISWiki
You can search through this repository of information about PTAGIS and you can also contribute.
The best way to get familiar with the site is to search through the box on the left. Try searching for something like "PIT tag" or "Category:FAQ".
If you aren't sure what to search for, you can browse through the site by category or just see a list of all the articles.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Contents
http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help
http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Project:PD_Help
Contents |
PIT Tag Information System (PTAGIS)
Goal
The goal of this project is to operate and maintain the Columbia River Basin-wide database for PIT Tagged fish and to operate and maintain the established interrogation systems. The data collected by this system is accessible to all entities.
The measurable goal for the system is to collect 100% valid data and provide that data in “near-real” time with downtime of any system component of not more than one percent as measured during the period of peak out-migration.
Background
The PIT Tag Information System (PTAGIS) is a data collection, distribution, and coordination project. The fundamental purpose of PTAGIS is to provide data to researchers and natural resource managers in order to monitor the behavior and survival of anadromous fish stocks, marked with PIT tags, as they migrate through the hydroelectric dams in the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS).
The PIT (passive integrated transponder) tag is a glass-encapsulated electronic device measuring approximately 12 mm long by 2.1 mm in diameter. Each tag is programmed with one of 35 billion unique codes. Since 1984, PIT tag technology has been utilized as a research and management tool to monitor the movement of juvenile and adult salmonids in the Columbia River Basin. Salmon and steelhead stocks are typically marked as juveniles by inserting a tag into the body cavity. During their migrations to and from the ocean, fish injected with this tag can be automatically recognized by detecting/recording devices strategically located within juvenile and adult fishways at hydroelectric dams. The tag can be automatically detected and decoded in situ – eliminating the need to sacrifice, anesthetize, handle, or restrain fish during data retrieval.
Laboratory studies with juvenile Chinook salmon and steelhead show no adverse effect of the tag on growth or survival. The established tag stays in a consistent location in the fish body cavity. Behavioral tests show no significant effect of the tag on opercular rate, tail beat frequency, stamina, or post fatigue survival in juvenile steelhead. Active swimming does not affect tag retention. [We need citations for these statements.]
When a fish is tagged, all related information about the tagging event and the individual fish is captured and entered into a central database. This information includes its PIT tag number, tagging location, organization responsible for the tagging, species, run, weight, length, wild or hatchery type, marks and general health. Once tagged, the fish is then released into the river system. This fish can be electronically identified and monitored indefinitely.
As the tagged fish's out-migration occurs, it passes through the electronic interrogation antennas established at seven permanent juvenile detection sites located at federal dams in the Columbia River Basin. This electronic equipment automatically detects its PIT tag code, and records its time and location. This information is forwarded to the central database and is permanently coupled with its previous tagging information as the fish makes its way to the Pacific Ocean.
When the tagged adult fish returns to the Columbia River system to spawn, the fish is again automatically detected at the permanent adult detection sites as it travels up-river. These data detections are added to the previous information contained in the database about that individual fish.
NOAA Fisheries (previously, the National Marine Fisheries Service) and the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) established a cooperative program in 1983 to evaluate the technical and biological feasibility of the PIT tag. This early effort has now evolved into a major research tool in the Columbia River Basin under the BPA program. Over 16 million fish have been tagged in the Columbia River Basin since 1987.
In 1993, Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission joined with the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority to establish an inter-agency PIT Tag Steering Committee to oversee the technical and policy issues involved with research organizations using the tag within the Columbia River Basin.
For more information, contact the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission at (503) 595-3100. Visit the PTAGIS Program at: http://www.ptagis.org
