Catch, Release and Repeat

May 2024

Pacific Islands Fisheries Group Tagging Update

Happy May to all the taggers and fellow Lawa’ia. The season is shifting into summer and many eagerly await the change in currents, movement, and the summer spawn of the Omilu and Ulua Aukea.

We are fortunate to be a part of a community that believes in a future for our fisheries and committed to helping tag, record, and report the valuable data that contributes to a more informed and knowledge base for our fisheries. Our mission is to ensure our voice is heard and to record both our participation and also support informed science, growth, and change in our fisheries.

We had the honor to meet with Dan Frick and hear his tagging story and background. Dan was also recently featured in the Lawai’a magazine 41. If you would like to subscribe, you can order here.

Dan is a passionate fisher, active tagger, and loves battling large Uluas. He joined us for a podcast recording as he talked about his tagging experiences, why he tags, and a recent recapture.

Tagged Fish Updates

Congratulations to all the taggers from February to April that tagged and released fish. Below are some highlights:

Ian Tominaga with five tagged fish! Two Oio and a Kaku.

Sherman Warner with four White Papios.

Camden Arrand with a 35” White Ulua.

Prince Nicolas with two nice Omilus.

Thad Nakajima with a tagged Oio.

Eric Suzuki with 6 tagged fish including 4 Moi.

Keith Kamikawa with 3 Oio.

Recovery

We did have our second recovery of a 35” tagged Ulua: A12822 off of the Big Island. We are reviewing information and will share more about it in the next update.

Thad’s nice tagged and released Oio.

Camden’s 35” Ulua - had an ulua hook in the mouth.

Please reach out to pacificfisheries@gmail.com if you would like to share any interesting tagging stories, talk story, or provide feedback on how we can improve the Tag It program.

Mahalo for supporting the PIFG Vision

PIFG Tag It Team