Parasites as Natural Tags for Marine Fish: a Review*

Abstract

Management of exploited stocks of marine and anadromous fish requires understanding of the subpopulation structure and migratory characteristics of the species. Parasite tags have been used, along with other methods, to provide information on these topics. This brief review emphasizes examples of successful application of parasite tag techniques to redfish, cod, whiting, herring and salmon populations and summarizes other studies of parasites in haddock, plaice and winter flounder. General findings are that the method is most useful when long-term studies of persistent parasites are feasible, when concurrent ecological studies are conducted, and when alternative approaches to subpopulation distinctions or movements of stocks are available simultaneously.