Tag a Trout/Salmon

The Sebago TU Telemetry Project

An initiative by Sebago Chapter of TU to tag wild fish on the Swift Diamond River

Trout Unlimited, the NH Fish and Game Department, and Dartmouth College, are teaming up to improve fisheries management in the Upper Androscoggin Watershed this coming Spring by conducting a telemetry study of migration patterns of brook trout and salmon in the Swift Diamond River. The Swift Diamond runs through the Dartmouth College Grant, joins the Dead Diamond River, and then flows into the Magalloway River and Umbagog Lake not far from our beloved Rapid River. These rivers are all part of the Upper Androscoggin watershed located in Maine and New Hampshire. This area is home to some of the best remaining wild brook trout and landlocked salmon fishing in the Eastern Untied States, with recent catches of brook trout up to five pounds reported in the watershed.

Please join our effort with your support by filling out and returning the attached form.

Two previous studies, completed in 2005 and 2008, tagged fish populations in the Rapid River, the Magalloway River, and the Dead Diamond. These studies revealed wide-ranging movement of fish throughout the watershed. In some instances, tagged trout traveled as much as 28 miles within a few weeks, with one fish traveling 72 miles during the study period. I t proved those fish are realy move around!

To continue with this work, a new project is planned this spring for the Swift Diamond River, which has not previously been studied. Radio telemetry tags will be implanted in Swift Diamond fish in early May 2010, and then tracked for up to two years. Data from this study will help identify what role the Swift Diamond plays as a spawning area, nursery area, or winter or summer holding area for trout and salmon, and will help determine its relationship to the Magalloway and Rapid Rivers. This information will be used by NH Fish and Game and the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in making future management decisions affecting the watershed.

YOU CAN HELP! Tagging starts in early May, and Sebago TU is heading the fund-raising to purchase 30-40 radio telemetry tags @ $150 each before April 1, 2010. This is your chance to help the fish AND get involved!

You can buy a tag (alone or with a group of your fishing buddies) by making a contribution of $150 for each tag (checks can be made payable to “Sebago Trout Unlimited”). Sebago TU is a non-profit / authorized chapter of Trout Unlimited, a 501(3)(c) corporation, and is serving as the purchasing agent for tags on this project. You do not have to be a member of Trout Unlimited to participate. Sebago TU is cooperating with other TU chapters and interested groups in Maine and New Hampshire who are assisting on this project.

Each of your tags will be implanted in WILD FISH by trained biologists from NH Fish and Game. You will receive information about YOUR FISH, including date, type, and location tagged, its length and weight, and you will then receive periodic updates throughout the study period about the location and migration patterns of YOUR FISH, where it goes, what it does, how it spends its time, and where it spawns, or, in some cases, what other creature ate it!

VISIT YOUR FISH! Opportunities will be provided on an “as needed” basis for tag owners to help track fish. If you are interested in helping, you can let us know on the form when you buy your tag.

Upon completion of the project, you will receive a full report of the study and its findings, which will include information about YOUR FISH.

To reserve your tag(s) and put your name on a wild fish, please fill our and return the attached form.

For more information, call Dave Bowie at 207-838-5898 or Robert Piampiano at 207-846-4500.

All gifts are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.