Throwback Thursday - Throwing Back the Fish

Figured I'd play with the wording this time and also bring some awareness to fish conservation.

Back in 2019 Biologists from the five Gulf states began to conduct red snapper research — and any angler lucky enough to catch one of the 3- to 5,000 tagged fish might be able to cash in for up to $500.

Each tag will be worth a minimum of $250, and some fish will  have two to help researchers learn how many tags fall out. The tags are yellow with a five-digit tag number starting with the letters “RS”, and the words “Reward $250. Keep tag,” plus a phone number to call.

To get the reward, anglers need to report the fishing port from which they departed, the date the fish was caught, the fish’s length and weight, the fish’s tag number, and the latitude and longitude where they caught it. The tag itself can be mailed in, though researchers may accept photographs.

Scientists expect about 10% of the tagged fish to be caught in the $12 million study called the Great Red Snapper Count, which was designed to check the accuracy of federal red snapper figures.