Tag-A-Giant 2011

All Quiet on the Western Front

2011-10-24T19:04:00.000-05:00

Upon the fourth straight day of rare perfect weather, we anticipated great things. We were off to a slow start marking tuna here and there but never reeling any in. In the afternoon, the water turned perfectly still, creating a mirror image of the sky. Large schools of mackerel, visible by the nervous water vibrating above them, surrounded the boat. While waiting for tuna to bust through,

Director's Cut

2011-10-15T23:50:00.000-05:00

Danny Coffey, Robbie Schallert and George Shillinger TAG-A-Giant Canada welcomed Dr. George Shillinger, the new director of the TAG-A-Giant Foundation, as well as Daniel Coffey, the new Tuna Research and Conservation Center technician, to the water for the first time. And they chose a good day because the bluefin were snapping...we tagged 4 fish on 7 bites...and had tuna busting all around

The Icehouse - Port Hood, Nova Scotia, Canada

2011-10-15T12:55:00.002-05:00

Tag-A-Giant Canada, Round Two kicked off on October 15, with the departure of TAG Director, Dr. George Shillinger, and TRCC Technician, Danny Coffey to Port Hood, Nova Scotia. TAG Canada Headquarters – The Lighthouse Cottages, Port Hood, Nova Scotia(photo by Dr. George Shillinger) High winds and choppy seas kept the tagging team off the water the following morning, but the commercial fishermen

Both Bitter and Sweet

2011-10-14T22:00:00.000-05:00

The TAG team headed out last Thursday, October 13th, and Friday, October 14th, scoring marks and tagging giants. Thursday started out ‘inside’, near shore off the Mabou Highlands, a spot noted the previous day for 3 late afternoon hook-ups by commercial fishers. The team wasn’t disappointed. Capt’n Ross Kues’ ‘Neptuna’ hooked up early in the morning with a nice medium-sized Bluefin to start

Tuna 1 - TAG 1

2011-10-14T18:23:00.004-05:00

We left the wharf knowing that the wind would pick up later that afternoon...we just weren't sure when. The boys from mainland Nova Scotia (Steve McInnis and Bernie Chisolm) met us off Mabou early in the morning. It was flat calm, and after jigging up some mackerel we drifted close to shore hopping to get bit. There was no wind and the tide was running against the drift, so after doing a 360

Let's Go Fly a Kite!

2011-10-13T18:21:00.001-05:00

The Celtic Colors are in full swing here in Cape Breton, along with a cool autumn breeze. The Bay Queen IV headed north up the coast line to the Mabou Coal Mines to meet up with the PEI tag boats. After a quick stop for mackerel, we started to set-up our gear a quarter mile from shore...but before we could get our last bait in the water, the Neptuna crackled over the radio that he had a fish on.

Highs and Lows

2011-10-12T17:58:00.000-05:00

Well, as the ol’sayin’ goes, when it rains, it pours...especially in Nova Scotia. The past 10 days have set records for Nova Scotia and the Tag-A-Giant team fishin’ for Giant Atlantic Bluefin off Port Hood on the Island of Cape Breton. Intense high and low pressure systems have brought unseasonal weather. Water temperatures have remained warm, and this past Canada Thanksgiving Weekend set

Ophelia? Nine Fish Tagged!

2011-10-04T18:15:00.000-05:00

The impending arrival of Hurricane Ophelia in the Canadian maritimes had prevented team member Robbie Schallert from getting back from his brothers wedding in Texas, so longtime reserve liphooker Aaron Spares was called into action on Monday morning. The day started quietly and few fish were marked on the 4 boat fleets’ echo sounders. As noon approached, Captain Dennis Cameron and I discussed the

Fall in Nova Scotia

2011-09-28T18:51:00.001-05:00

There was a brisk autumn bite to the air as the team headed to the boats. We decided to stop and get some mackerel for a change…and caught a good number of tinkers. Dennis’s brother started pulling his net, so the fleet moved over to see if any of our tuna friends were waiting for the herring again. At first we thought maybe our luck around Carl had run out, but soon enough he had a good size

Back in the Hood

2011-09-23T11:24:00.002-05:00

TAG-A-Giant Canada returned to Port Hood, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia for another year of tagging Atlantic bluefin. We were welcomed by unseasonably warm weather and a flat calm day. In order to knock off the rust, we decided to start the season off with three boats...two PEI boats (North Lake Breeze and Neptuna) came across the straight to join the TAG boat (Bay Queen IV). It was a fairly

110 Bluefin Tagged!

2011-08-26T14:54:00.002-05:00

Another report from the F/V Shogun... The tagging effort aboard Shogun continued as TAG team returned to the region of Tuesday's hot bite, less than a 14h run from San Diego. We picked up right where we left off. At dawn after drifting for 3 hours we were just about to pick up and leave to start searching for fish in less than ideal conditions, when our TAG summer intern, James Stiltner

Tuna Road Trip

2011-08-25T14:47:00.000-05:00

A report from the Shogun crew... Today we unloaded the 26 bluefin and one yellowfin tuna to the truck and pool located at the pier at Scripps Marfac dock. Half the fish were loaded into the “tunabago,” the transport tank that gives the bluefin a free ride up the California highways to the Tuna Research and Conservation Center (TRCC) at Stanford’s Hopkins Marine Station, in Pacific Grove.

One for the Record Books

2011-08-24T17:04:00.000-05:00

As scientists, anglers and passionate fans of Pacific bluefin tuna we live for day like we have had here on Shogun in the past 24 h. Our mission- to collect tunas for studies back at our home laboratory- the Tuna Research and Conservation Center (TRCC). We arrived in the area where fishing reports had been excellent and proceeded from dawn to dusk to have a wide open bluefin bite. And this time,

Landmark study published on Pacific bluefin tuna

2011-06-22T13:19:00.003-05:00

The Tag-A-Giant team is pleased to report that some of our Pacific bluefin tuna tagging research was published today in one of the world's preeminent scientific journals, Nature. Data from over 300 recaptured archival-tagged bluefin were included in a landmark study, the Census of Marine Life Tagging of Pacific Predators (TOPP) project. TOPP was a whirlwind 10-year research initiative in which

Bluefin Tuna Fingerlings @ Clean Seas, Australia

2011-04-12T13:28:00.000-05:00

Tuna and dolphins and sharks, oh my...

2011-03-30T21:59:00.002-05:00