By Julia Robins, Virginia Sea Grant Communicator
Bob Fisher, Virginia Institute of Marine Science extension staff affiliated with Virginia Sea Grant, is collaborating with Smithsonian Environmental Research Center Scientist (SERC) Matthew Ogburn to learn more about cownose ray migration.
The team is implanting passive acoustic telemetry transmitters into fish. The transmitters will send a ping to researchers every time the fish swims past a receiver. These receivers are part of Atlantic Coastal Telemetry (ACT), a network of collaborative acoustic telemetry projects that share data on fish detections.
While the implant is more invasive than an externally attached tag, Fisher expects the implant will be more successful.
“During normal foraging behavior and even during mating there’s a good chance that the external tags can be dislodged or torn off the ray,” says Fisher. “If you can get the implant in without compromising the health of the animal it will have it for as long as the battery life lasts (a minimum of two years).”
Relatively little is known about the cownose ray, a species of rays that has caused quite a stir in the Chesapeake Bay due to its adverse affect on oyster and clam aquaculture. While the development of a commercial cownose ray fishery has been suggested, the slow growth rate of its populations has landed the ray on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List status of “near-threatened.”
