Abstract
Background: Fish telemetry using electronic transmitter or data storage tags has become a common method for
studying free-swimming fish both in the wild and in aquaculture. However, fish used in telemetry studies must be
handled, anaesthetised and often subjected to surgical procedures to be equipped with tags, processes that will shift
the fish from their normal physiological and behavioural states. In many projects, information is needed on when the
fish has recovered after handling and tagging so that only the data recorded after the fish has fully recovered are used
in analyses. We aimed to establish recovery times of adult Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) after an intraperitoneal tagging
procedure featuring handling, anaesthesia and surgery.
Results: Based on ECG and accelerometer data collected with telemetry from nine individual Atlantic salmon during
the first period after tagging, we found that heart rate was initially elevated in all fish and that it took an average of
≈ 4 days and a maximum of 6 days for heart rate to return to an assumed baseline level. One activity tag showed no
consistent decline in activity, and two others did not show strong evidence of complete recovery by the end of the
experiment: baseline levels of the remaining tags were on average reached after ≈ 3.3 days.
Conclusion: Our findings showed that the Atlantic salmon used in this study required an average of ≈ 4 days, with
a maximum interval of 6 days, of recovery after tagging before tag data could be considered valid. Moreover, the
differences between recovery times for heart rate and activity imply that recovery time recommendations should be
developed based on a combination of indicators and not just on e.g. behavioural observations.
Keywords: Fish telemetry/biologging, Atlantic salmon, Post-tagging recovery, Heart rate, Swimming activity
studying free-swimming fish both in the wild and in aquaculture. However, fish used in telemetry studies must be
handled, anaesthetised and often subjected to surgical procedures to be equipped with tags, processes that will shift
the fish from their normal physiological and behavioural states. In many projects, information is needed on when the
fish has recovered after handling and tagging so that only the data recorded after the fish has fully recovered are used
in analyses. We aimed to establish recovery times of adult Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) after an intraperitoneal tagging
procedure featuring handling, anaesthesia and surgery.
Results: Based on ECG and accelerometer data collected with telemetry from nine individual Atlantic salmon during
the first period after tagging, we found that heart rate was initially elevated in all fish and that it took an average of
≈ 4 days and a maximum of 6 days for heart rate to return to an assumed baseline level. One activity tag showed no
consistent decline in activity, and two others did not show strong evidence of complete recovery by the end of the
experiment: baseline levels of the remaining tags were on average reached after ≈ 3.3 days.
Conclusion: Our findings showed that the Atlantic salmon used in this study required an average of ≈ 4 days, with
a maximum interval of 6 days, of recovery after tagging before tag data could be considered valid. Moreover, the
differences between recovery times for heart rate and activity imply that recovery time recommendations should be
developed based on a combination of indicators and not just on e.g. behavioural observations.
Keywords: Fish telemetry/biologging, Atlantic salmon, Post-tagging recovery, Heart rate, Swimming activity