The Northeast Regional Cod Tagging Program (NRCTP) began in late 2002 and represents the largest cod tagging program initiated to date along the eastern seaboard of the North American continent.

A significant example of collaborative research, this program is international and region-wide, involving commercial fishermen and research organizations from Canada down to Cape Cod.

This program focuses on Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua; a fish which has furnished a traditional fishery in Canadian and US waters for centuries. The program design is based on recommendations documented by the New England Aquarium.

Funded by NOAA Fisheries, Northeast Regional Office, the NE Regional Cod-tagging Program is being coordinated by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute based in Portland, Maine.

The program was planned to run for a minimum of two years, during which time over 100,000 Atlantic cod were to be tagged and released throughout the Gulf of Maine and neighboring waters in Canada and Southern New England. The Program has been extended more than once and currently has funds to continue its data collection through 2009.

This web site will feature up-to-date feedback from this large-scale program. In particular, you will be able to:

Learn about the aims of the tagging program and the tagging techniques used;

Track and create reports on the tagged cod you catch;

Follow the progress of the program through Program updates and newsletters;

View images from the field;

Find out about other research on Atlantic cod and other tagging programs.