Cold branding with liquid nitrogen as a coolant appears to have an excellent potential for producing a durable recognizable mark on fish. The most frequent complaint voiced against cold branding has been a high variability in the quality and subsequent recognition of the mark. Four aspects of cold branding were tested and found to be effective in reducing variability in the quality of the brands. These are: use of branding tips with open simple designs and thin clean lines, application of the brand to selected locations on the fishes for a controlled period of time, and utilization of the ability of fishes to change hues during subsequent examinations for marks.