The North Dakota Game and Fish Department
is asking salmon anglers to turn over fish heads to the agency so
that tracking information can be retrieved from microscopic tags
embedded in the fish's snouts.
The agency says anglers can tell whether a fish has a coded tag
by looking on its back. If it's missing the small adipose fin in
front of the tail, the fish has a tag.
The agency says some young salmon were tagged before being
stocked in Lake Sakakawea and the Missouri River.
Salmon can't reproduce naturally in Lake Sakakawea, so eggs are
brought to the Garrison Dam National Fish Hatchery and fish are
raised there for stocking.