Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission

Monitoring millions of fish, ensuring their lifecycle

The PIT Tag Information System (PTAGIS) is a fisheries data project of the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission. PTAGIS monitors fish migrations through the Federal Columbia River Power System and provides valuable research information to ensure the restoration of declining salmon and steelhead populations. Since 1987, about 17 million fish have been marked with PIT tags-a tiny electronic device-and released into the waterways of the Columbia River Basin. Beginning in 1991, PTAGIS automated its processes and developed software using an Ingres database that receives, stores, and analyzes PIT Tag information for research purposes. The data is available on the Internet.

Protecting the environment, one fish at a time

Utilizing the same technology that powers microchips to identify pets and the security mechanism for car keys used by car manufacturers, various research agencies throughout the Pacific Northwest inject a Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT tag) into each fish with the latest in Radio Frequency Identification technology. A PIT-tagged fish is uniquely identified and then monitored throughout its entire lifecycle as it migrates to and from the Pacific Ocean back to its original spawning grounds. As the fish passes by one of about 70 interrogation sites along the Columbia River Basin, the unique code which associates characteristics of the fish-its mark/release data and its species, stock, size, and condition-is detected by its PIT tag. A variety of monitoring devices, stationary and hand-held, record the data, which are automatically uploaded to the PTAGIS database every three hours.

Making a difference with Ingres technology

"We rely on Ingres to provide a reliable and robust relational database management system for researchers to retrieve information about PIT-tagged fish from our data system," says Carter Stein, program manager of the PTAGIS project. The system contains about 17 million mark/release records and nearly 70 million interrogation/tracking records for fish in the Columbia River Basin.

"Our project has grown in scope, scale and complexity and the data system has met the challenge," says Stein.

The PTAGIS project handles advanced queries from 257 registered users whose research includes everything from academic projects to the work of other fish and wildlife agencies that share a common mission to protect and enhance the environment.

"Ingres has all of the performance we need. It's been scalable for this project. The maintenance costs are low and the administration time it takes is minimal-it just runs the way it's supposed to," says Stein.

For more information about the PTAGIS Project visit: http://www.ptagis.org/

For more information about the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission visit: http://www.psmfc.org/