Acoustic tag retention and tagging mortality of juvenile cisco Coregonus artedi

Release of hatchery-reared juvenile cisco (Coregonus artedi) is an important tool for recovering Great Lakes populations, but post-release survival is unknown. Telemetry using small acoustic tags provides opportunities to assess the efficacy of hatchery-reared fish releases. However, better understanding of the tolerance of juvenile cisco to acoustic tags is needed. Juvenile cisco mortality and tag retention as a function of tag size:body size (Relative Tag Weight, RTW) was observed for 30 d post tag implantation in the laboratory. Tag loss and mortality increased with RTW. A single mortality occurred for RTW ≤ 3% and tag retention and survival was  7.0%. Logistic regression predicted >95% survival and tag retention to 30 d for RTW