National Coded Wire Tagging and Tag Recovery Programme

Up to 300,000 smolts (from various Irish hatcheries, including Burrishoole and wild fish from the Corrib river) are tagged annually and the data in relation to this tagging process is on file since 1980. The hatcheries involved are ESB facilitieson the Erne at Carrigadrohid, Lee at Macroom, Shannon at Parteen . IFI facilities at Cong and Erriff, Delphi Fishery hatchery at Delphi Connemara. Wild salmon are released woth tags on the Corrib. Ad hoc tagging takes place on the Foyle, Liffey and Boyne. The monitoring information (tagging and release information and information on individual fish recaptured in fisheries or broodstocks) is maintained in a relational database on the Burrishoole server. Since the programme began in 1980, over 6 million salmon smolts have been tagged and released generating approximately half a million tag recoveries and information on individual salmon returns. It is estimated that in 2013 a total of 500,000 smolts will be released of which 300,000 will be tagged under the National Coded Wire Tagging and Tag Recovery Programme. There is now a long-term data series for these 10 rivers dealing with marine survival since 1980. This is the longest time series of coded wire tag returns in any North Atlantic salmon producing country.