Va. Commission to Collect Fish Carcasses

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Next time you slice up your favorite saltwater fish, consider donating its carcass to science. The Virginia Marine Resources Commission soon will begin collecting carcasses of several elusive species -- cobia, spadefish, sheepshead, red and black drum, tilefish and grouper -- from recreational fishermen to study the health of the fish populations.

Since 1998, the commission has collected length, weight, sex and age information from more than a dozen species in the Chesapeake Bay. The majority of the samples come from the commercial fishing industry, but some of the species aren't popular commercial catches, so the commission is turning to recreational fishermen to fill the gaps.

''Instead of going out and catching live ones ourselves, we can get much of the data that we need from the remnants of what's already caught,'' VMRC spokesman John Bull said.

Scientists must remove a fish's otolith, an ear bone that contains growth rings similar to rings in the trunks of trees, to determine its age. Hundreds of samples are needed each year for researchers to get an accurate reflection of the population.

''Why go and kill new fish to do the studies when we can learn the stuff from the dead fish?'' Bull said. ''That leaves more fish out there for other people to catch.''

Bull called the project a ''normal, routine, health-of-the-species population assessment'' and said scientists have no reason to believe any of the targeted species are in serious danger.

Researchers are interested in how long the fish are living, how big they're growing and other details such as the ratio of females to males to determine what that might mean for the viability of the species.
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