Tiny computers help track Lake Huron fish

I had a great opportunity last weekend to pay a visit to the Oscoda salmon stocking pond with Jerry Gossett. Jerry is a volunteer salmon-sitter for the next three weeks or so until the baby fish are old enough to be released into the river. It's quite an impressive setup which cares for over 500,000 young salmon while they are imprinted with AuSable River water. This imprinting enables them to find the AuSable River when they return in four years.

Jerry told us that some of the young salmon have computer chips imbedded in them to help the DNR track their whereabout. That sounded interesting so I did a little searching and found this Detroit News article from July 2003 which explained what these chips do: Tiny computers help track Lake Huron fish - 07/01/03

Hundreds of salmon, trout and other fish are swimming in Lake Huron with minicomputers implanted inside them, helping the state collect information that will improve Michigan's sports and commercial fishing.

Computerized devices about an inch long record the water temperature and depth the fish prefer, adding information to a computer model the state Department of Natural Resources uses to determine stocking levels and harvest limits for commercial and sport fishermen as well as the Indian fish catch under an 1836 treaty, according to Jim Johnson, DNR station manager at the Alpena Fishery Station.

There's a $100 reward for the data-laden fish, which have a tag near the dorsal or pelvic fin.