Springtime is when fish culturists at the state’s hatcheries are busy preparing to stock lakes and rivers for anglers. Many of the fish we stock have had a fin clipped. IF&W fisheries biologists, fish culturists, and even volunteers have been “marking” fish over the past several weeks by removing a fin or combination of fins in order to identify and age these fish later.
Why do we mark fish by clipping fins? Fisheries biologists use fin marks to identify a fish’s year of stocking. Knowing the “mark of the year”, we can easily determine how old a fish is when caught or captured in one of our lake surveys. Marks used in certain waterbodies can determine age and growth rates from year to year, or provide an indication of how many fish survive from season to season. To view a short video, check this out: https://youtu.be/P0l6b0zls2U.
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