GPS Tracking of Salmon

[TOP SECRET]

So the wife and I have been discussing what we thought might be a fun summer project... I'm just hoping that it's legal

We always thought it would be a lot of fun to "track a salmon". Over the past couple of years I looked into different ways to do this, from a small cell phone, to a modded GPS, to a DIY comm device. In the end, just about every option was going to cost quite a bit of $ and time and it honestly kinda took the fun out of it. Lately though, I've been seeing more and more GPS tracking devices made for tracking your children, cars, boats, etc. They are actually pretty inexpensive now $75-$100, but don't last all that long... maybe a week with luck.

They are pretty small and could easily be attached to a salmon without too much interference (or so the lampreys tell me). I guess my main concern is... would this be legal? If my salmon crosses into Canada, is it considered espionage

I just thought it would be a fun summer project, although I'm not sure the signal will be able to penetrate more than 20ft (if that). I'd need to test it off my downrigger for a bit.

Little buddy, zoombak, garmin GTU a bunch of options

http://www.zoombak.com/

It might just be a waste of $100, but with gas prices this year I may have a lot of free time

Nick

[Big Dave]

Get a goverment reserch grant..

[TOP SECRET]

haha that's what my coworker said, but then it might as well be a 2nd job! The paperwork alone would be atrocious.

Nick

[Nemesis]

You could get a few and stash them on the top boats during a tournament to see where they are fishing. Hmmmmmm?

[AnglingAddict]

No way a GPS signal would penetrate very far at all into the water...typical GPS signals on the surface of the earth are about -140 to -160 dBW.....that's very little signal which would easily be attenuated by the water...GPS frequency I think is in the 1.5 GHz range which will easily be absorbed by a solid layer of water....main take-away from all of that...don't waste your time.