Sampling/Processing

I've been getting questions recently about what exactly I mean by "sampling" and "processing". These are terms that encompass what data we take and what we "do" to the fish: blood sample, insert Floy tag, attach transmitter. After the previous three things are completed, we take the blood and do three field based tests to obtain instant data on 1) glucose, 2) lactate, and 3) hematocrit values.

1) Cortisol, a stress hormone, triggers the production of energy reserves to help organisms (including fish as well as humans) cope with stressors. This energy comes in the form of glycogen. Glucose results from the breakdown of glycogen (glycogenolysis). So, glucose gives us a proxy for the amount of stress (in this case) muskies undergo during the C&R process.

2) Lactate is created by the breakdown of lactic acid as an organism undergoes exhaustive exercise. Again, measuring lactate gives us a proxy for determining the relative amount of exhaustive exercise a fish has gone through after being angled.

3) Hematocrit is a ratio of red blood cells (RBCs) to whole blood (RBCs + plasma) volume. It gives a general indication of overall body condition and can indicate things such as severe blood loss, malnutrition, or anemia.

Transmitter attachment. See pictures...