Article Published April 2023
While satellite tags are expensive, they remain one of the principal ways to collect movement data on marine and terrestrial animals independent of direct human contact. The founder of the Dolphinfish Research Program, Don Hammond, deployed the first satellite tag on a dolphinfish for our program on June 4, 2005. During his tenure, he deployed fourteen satellite tags, with the majority released using the traditional harpoon method whereby a tag is inserted into the muscle of the fish with a forceful but controlled jab. Hammond was concerned about the harpoon method being detrimental to the survival of the fish and ultimately leading to lower tag retention. Consequently, he began experimenting with a new method that required more time with and care of the fish. He coined the new technique the “thread-through” method in which the tag was essentially buttoned to the fish. Results from his first five attempts from 2006 through 2008 using the thread-through method, however, did not reveal any differences in survival or retention time on the fish versus the harpoon method. Then, in 2011, we successfully implemented the thread-through method aboard Missing Angel on a 43″ bull but introduced in-water recovery for the fish and the bull carried the