Towards Long-term Tracking of billfish 
PI: Kim Holland, David Itano
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The target animals for this research are sub-adult striped marlin that occur around the Hawaiian Islands in a seasonal pulse that
typically runs from December to about March. Thus, the field work phase of this research has not yet commenced. In preparation
for this field work, Mark II tag anchor prototypes have been designed and the design forwarded to the manufacturer in Australia.
These anchors are being produced by an injection mold process by the same company that makes dart tags for the well known tag
supplier Hallprint Pty and Hallprint has been overseeing the manufacturing process. The anchors are on track for delivery in
the third week of November 2006. Satellite tags have been ordered from Wildlife Computers and are also due to be delivered by
the beginning of December. The fishing/tagging boat has been moved to the appropriate part of Oahu where fishing activity will
occur. Thus, all components would seem to be on track for the upcoming fieldwork season.
