Scanning for PIT‐tagged flatfish in a coastal area using a sledge equipped with an RFID antenna.

A radio frequency identification (RFID) antenna system, build into a sledge that can be towed behind a vessel like a trawl and thereby has the potential to detect the position of a passive inductor technology (PIT)‐tagged fish in a wide variety of habitats, is presented. By scanning for hatchery‐reared PIT‐tagged turbot Psetta maxima released into a natural habitat, the performance of the system was compared to a standard juvenile trawl and results suggested that the efficiency of the sledge was five times that of the trawl, which in absolute values corresponds to 75% of P. maxima lying in the pathway of the sledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]