 Dead Fish DO Tell Tales
We've all heard the old saying "One man's trash is another man's treasure". Well, when it comes to collecting data on Georgia's saltwater sportfish, this is definitely true. Every weekend, scores of anglers take to the water in search of their favorite fish, some of which they keep for the table. While some fish are headed or kept whole for cooking, most anglers fillet them, then discard the remains, much to the delight of the local crab population. To the biologist, these discarded fish carcasses are a veritable gold mine of information. Recognizing this opportunity, staff with the Recreational Fisheries Program at the Coastal Resources Division developed a program to gather these fish carcasses.
The approach is simple, yet effective. Chest freezers are placed near the fish cleaning stations at selected locations along the Georgia coast. Each freezer is marked with an identifying sign and a list of target fish species. Inside the freezer is a supply of plastic bags, information cards, and pens. Cooperating anglers can place the filleted carcasses, with head and tail intact, in a bag, drop in a completed angler information card, and then place the bag in the freezer.
 What Do We Do With Fish Carcasses?
The freezers are checked every week during peak fishing times and biweekly during the off months. Bags of frozen fish carcasses are returned to the Coastal Regional Headquarters where they are stored until processing. When storage freezers reach capacity, biologists and technicians join together and work up the carcasses. During examination, biologists record species, length, and sex, before removing the otoliths, commonly called ear bones. Later, the age of each donated fish is determined by examination of the otoliths with a computerized image analysis system
Since the autumn of 1997, over 18,000 fish carcasses have been processed for biological information. Spotted seatrout and red drum (spottail bass) are donated in the greatest quantities, reflecting their popularity with Georgias anglers. These donated fish carcasses are one of the most important sources of information on harvested fish. The ongoing Georgia DNR creel survey also provides data on the type and size of fish caught by anglers, as well as the amount of fishing effort.
The information provided by fish carcasses is used in a variety of analyses, all of which help us better understand the status of Georgias coastal fish populations. These data can be used in a descriptive manner to examine trends in the size and age structure of a population. For example, the average length of spotted seatrout harvested from our coastal waters has increased slightly over the past few years. This means that the 13-inch minimum size limit and 15-fish creel limit are having the desired positive effect on Georgias speckled trout fishery.
Often times the data from fish carcasses are used in very sophisticated analyses such as the recent stock assessment for Atlantic coast red drum. The length and age information collected from donated red drum carcasses was sent to stock assessment scientists with the National Marine Fisheries Service. It is important to know that you, the angler, have been a partner in the conservation of Georgias red drum.
 Guides and Anglers Pitch in To Help Protect Georgias Saltwater Fishery
Support for the program has been great and over 500 anglers have donated fish carcasses. Participants are given an incentive award for each three bags of fish carcasses. However, only carcasses taken from bags with information cards can be used for biological data, and only those anglers are eligible to receive an award. So it is very important that anglers take the extra time to fill out the card and include it with their carcass donation. The cooperation of anglers and guides is important to the continued success of the program.
Anglers often ask, How long will you keep collecting fish carcasses? As long as we use stock assessments and similar methods to manage the saltwater fisheries, we will need timely data on the age and size of harvested fish. So this program will go on as long as there is funding and the support of the angling public.
We hope that anglers will continue to participate in this program, since it is the most cost-effective way to collect this type of critical information. Likewise, we hope that marina owners and their staff will continue their generous support of these efforts. For more information about the Carcass Recovery Project contact David J. "Jeff" Mericle at (912) 264-7218.
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