Emerging PIT-tag Technologies
For NPCC Fish Tagging Forum – March 22, 2012
Presenter: Sandra Downing
Ideas and information supplied by numerous people
Outline of Presentation
 Little bit of introduction and history
 Tags
 Transceivers
 Antennas
 Examples of emerging and future applications
 Computer programs
PIT-tag Systems Consist of
Tags
Transceivers
Antennas
1999:
400-kHz tags
400-kHz
12” pipe
2001:
BE ISO tags
FS1001A
2’ x 6’
2005:
ST ISO tags
2008:
SST ISO tags
first 9-mm tag
2010:
SST-1 ISO tags
13-mm HDX
better 9-mm tag
Future:
(2012)
16-msec tags
12-mm HDX
shorter/thinner tags
great 9-mm tag
FS1001M (multiplexing)
FS1001M
Corner collector
no new Destron
Allflex-low power, FDX&HDX
New multiplexing transceiver
Replacement dam transceiver (2020)
Spillway-Ogee and New TI-HDX
2.5’ x 12’
3’ x 20’
17’ x 17’
4’ x 25’
3’ x 10’
ogee-passby, 5’ x 25’ or 5’ x 50’
larger / more antennas
Tags
BPA – New tag contract for 3 sizes of PIT tags
 Received 18 tag models from different vendors in December 2011
 PSMFC and NOAA Fisheries evaluated the tags
with laboratory, field, and fish tests
 12-mm contract went to the same Destron SST-1 tag
(now being sold as Biomark tag)
 9-mm contract went to RFID Solutions S.L.
(detection rate was 54% in the BCC system vs 12% for best Destron 9-mm)
 23-mm contract went to Biomark
 Tag costs reduced with new contract
9-mm tag
Tags
Additional new PIT tags
 16-msec tags (7-9% higher detection at BCC)
 New 12-mm HDX tags (improved over 13-mm prototype)
 Many small tags now available
(smallest 7-mm x 1.25-mm tags had disappointing performance)
 Slender 8-mm x 1.25-mm tags
(12-mm: 30% volume and 24% weight at .024g)
Average Detection Rate
Individual Monitor or
antennas 4 antennas
Large Full-flow antennas
Smaller juvenile antennas
62.8
95.6
95.9
99-100
Tag or Tagging Effects
 12.5-mm tags have been shown in several studies to
negatively impact SARs
 Lost or shed tags / higher mortality (if so how much higher)
 Do smaller tags have less of a negative effect?
 NOAA Fisheries is designing
an experiment to evaluate
this in Alaska with its higher
SARs
Future for Tags
 9-mm tags to replace 12.3-mm tags as standard size?
 I think we will see anti-collision firmware that will make
it possible to detect multiple tags that are in an
antenna’s field simultaneously.
 Ability to kill or temporarily disable tags
(e.g., collecting tag data from avian predator populations)
Transceivers
On-going Developments
Biomark (nee Destron Fearing)
 Ogee transceiver
 2020 transceiver – replacement for transceivers at dams, ISO
 New multiplexing transceiver
NMFS and Allflex
 Improving system performance for low-powered Allflex board
Spillway Detection Ogee transceiver
 25-35% of tagged fish returning
have no juvenile passage info
 Powerful - capable of creating field 4-5’ deep in passby mode
 Possible replacement for cornercollector transceiver (i.e., it will be able
to operate very large single antennas)
 Can detect the 16-msec tags
2020 transceiver
 Designed to replace the FS1001J, FS1001A,
and FS1001AB at the mainstem dam sites
with a single transceiver model
 Currently will not work for smaller antennas
 Auto tuning
 Diagnostics needed to help PSMFC
maintain its high operational standards
 Several communication ports
(ethernet, fiber optic, USB)
 ISO transceiver, so reads both FDX and HDX
 Will be installed and tested in 2012
New multiplexing transceiver
 Substantially better read range
 Can sync master controllers
 Auto tuning
 Same power consumption as MUX
for 6 antennas
 Up to 12 antennas
New multiplexing transceiver
NOAA Fisheries will be testing final prototypes during first week of April
Transceivers
Future Developments
Biomark
 New handheld or portable reader
 Low cost multiplexing transceiver
Texas Instrument
 New reader for HDX tags
Antennas
As in the past, once we have new transceivers,
we will learn how to push them to maximize
antenna size and learn how to use them for
new applications.
For example, new multiplexing transceiver will require less of an air
gap in its antennas than the MUX.
Tests of a 50’ long antenna with prototype ACN transceiver
(new meaning to it’s in the back of the truck)
Emerging and Future Applications
Spillway Detection
 Lower Granite Dam
 Goal is to install for 2014
 TSW into Bay 2 as backup for RSW in Bay 1
 Lower Granite Dam’s ogee is very different from Ice Harbor Dam’s
 Tag collisions are a big issue for spillway detection
 Detection rate is a big unknown
 Antenna read range want 48-60”
Emerging and Future Applications
Support cable anchored on the shore
and fixed to the piling. Antennas will be
clipped to this for suspension and
orientation.
11 ft
30 ft
15 to 20ft
4 ft
Emerging and Future Applications
Juvenile
lamprey
Emerging and Future
Applications
Willamette Basin
Cougar Dam
Purpose is Flood Control
Many lack fish passageways
Computer Programs
 M4 program for interrogation data
 M4 program for performing separation-by-code
 More incorporation of meta data into fisheries database(s)
 Better web-based tools that allow for more complicated
and faster analyses
What PIT-tag tools do researchers or managers
want to see in the future to improve management
of the fisheries resources?