Cod tagging project suggests fish don’t overwinter in Northern Bering Sea 
By Davis Hovey (KNOM-Nome) US Source: knba 8/27/2020
Davis Hovey (KNOM-Nome)
As the number of Pacific cod swimming into the Northern Bering Sea continues to increase, scientists have gathered initial data on the fish’s movements. Even though they have a small sample size, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) researchers believe that cod are unable to survive under the ice in the Bering Sea.
 

Susanne McDermott, a fish biologist with NOAA Fisheries, says that after tagging 38 fish last year, none of them stayed in the Northern Bering Sea over the winter.

“We actually had one tag recovered under ice. This fish most likely died in January under the ice, but the tag popped up close to the Bering Strait," McDermott said. "We don’t think the fish actually went all the way there, we think the tag was moved there by the ice most likely, or (ocean) currents.”

Some of these tags were staggered to pop up after 90 days, 210 days, or even 360 days later. So far, McDermott says, they’ve recovered 30 of the 38 tags originally sent out last fall.

 
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