The Virginia Game Fish Tagging Program (VGFTP) celebrated the achievements March 11 of its top volunteers with the help of Bass Pro Shops in Hampton. A cooperative effort between the Marine Advisory Program at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) and the Virginia Saltwater Tournament at the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC), the VGFTP uses state saltwater license funds to train volunteer anglers to tag recreationally important finfishes. Data collected by the VGFTP helps anglers and managers learn more about fish migration, growth and habitat use. In 2021, VGFTP volunteers tagged more than 19,160 fishes and recorded 1,473 recaptures.
Hoisting the Top Tagger trophy again this year was Yorktown angler, Ed Shepherd, who tagged more than 6,000 fishes in 2021. In addition to individual species’ categories, the tagging program introduced some new awards to celebrate the longest-standing volunteers, fish diversity in tagging, and use of experimental tags. Award winners hailed from all over Virginia and the Eastern Shore.
Since 1995, VGFTP anglers have tagged more than 385,000 fishes and contributed vital data for the management of these marine species.
Top taggers winners include, Overall Tags, Ed Shepherd (Yorktown); Overall Recaptures, Ed Shepherd; Black Drum, John Knight (Virginia Beach); Black Sea Bass, Ed Shepherd; Cobia, Jorj and Hayden Head (Seaford); Summer Flounder, Scott Vinson; Red Drum, David Griffith (Cape Charles); Sheepshead, John Knight; Spadefish Alex and A.J. Perez (Norfolk); Speckled Trout, Ed Shepherd; Tautog, David Gladysiewicz; and Triggerfish, Rob Collins.
