An evaluation of tagging experiments on the New Zealand snapper,Chrysophrys auratus (Forster), during the period 1952 to 1963

Details of all known data on New Zealand snapper tagging operations to 1963 are presented and briefly analysed. Nearly 8,000 fish have been tagged, with 43 (0.5%) returned. Fishing methods have included beach‐seining, trawling, and hand‐lining; tags used have been “pig‐rings”, operculum strap tags, or Petersen discs attached by two different methods. The greatest number of returns were from line‐caught fish with Petersen discs attached through the body by nylon thread. Of the 43 fish recaptured, 33 were taken less than six miles from their tagging site, and seven had moved between 10 and 260 miles (no recapture site was given for three fish. Days at liberty ranged from one to 1,127, with a mean of 164. There were insufficient growth data for analysis.