Project Investigators Dr. Kyle Hartman - West Virginia University
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Project collaborators |
About the project
This study represents a collaborative effort of the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR), West Virginia Department of Natural Resources (WVDNR), Muskellunge angling organizations, Coastal Carolina University (CCU), and West Virginia University (WVU). This study will help to determine whether Muskellunge catch-and-release angling during the summer poses as a significant source of mortality in southern populations. Studies will take place concurrently in the James River, Virginia (JR) and Stonewall Jackson Lake, West Virginia (SJL), as well as in a hatchery pond setting in West Virginia. We will model mortality rates of Muskellunge angled in the JR and SJL using telemetry data following angled and non-angled fish across the summer months and we will determine the factors that may lead to mortality of Muskellunge that are caught and released in the pond study.
