Everyone knows tarpon. Catching one is the thrill of a lifetime. They swarm by the thousands through Boca Grande Pass every summer to spawn in the Gulf of Mexico. Anyone who has spent time on Gasparilla Island knows all of that. But for a fish that is so famous, very little else is certain.
The Tarpon Genetic Recapture study was started in 2005, to track the recapture rates, population structure and migratory patterns of the silver king.