Migrations of Wolffishes, Anarhichas sp., from Tagging in the Newfoundland Area

Abstract

Tagging of 398 Atlantic wolffish, Anarhichas lupus, 81 spotted wolffish, A. minor, and 101 northern wolffish, A. denticulatus, with Petersen disc tags in the Newfoundland area during 1962-66 yielded 5.0, 7.4 and 3.0% returns respectively. Recapture information indicates that migrations are generally short but some rather long migrations were noted. The rate of recapture of Atlantic wolfish declined rapidly from 15.4% for coastal taggings to 6.7% for offshore taggings except Flemish Cap and to 1.1% for Flemish Cap tagging. Depths of recapture of Atlantic wolffish ranged from 20 to 476 m.