Chinnies are also tagged with radio chips ( or some sort of chip they use a scanner thingy ma jig to locate ) in their faces. Though I'm not convinced this fish was branded in the name of science. I couldn't find anything that looked that intricate. This was the branding tool.
Also, not insinuating anyone was drinking on the boat - the bottle could of been some sort Norwegian Sparkling Mountain Top Glacier Water where date and location made are well important.
Interesting. Wonder if they'd like to know where their fish ended up...
On a side note, not to derail thread but maybe someone wants to PM me, but if salmon return to spawn where they were born, how do hatchery raised salmon choose what trib to run down, if at all? The one they were released in? Just interesting that if this is US based cold branding that the fish ended up here.
Fish are released into streams so they can imprint at a young age. Steelhead for instance migrate all around and go in and out of several watersheds - perhaps salmon do the same?