MUSKY MORTALITY PROJECT
  • Home
  • James River, VA
    • 2020 Results
    • 2021 Results
    • Final Results
    • Musky map
  • Stonewall Jackson, WV
    • Final Results
    • 2021 Results
    • Musky Map
  • Pond Study
  • Results

Southern Musky
​Mortality Project

Answering the controversial question of whether warm water catch-and-release leads to Muskellunge mortality. 

Project Investigators ​

  Dr. Kyle Hartman - West Virginia University 
  Dr. Derek Crane - Coastal Carolina University 
  Jeff Hansbarger - West Virginia Division of Natural Resources 
  Scott Smith - Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources 
  Tyler Young  - Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources  
  George Palmer - Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources  
  Dan Goetz - Maryland Department of Natural Resources
  Peter Jenkins - West Virginia University - Graduate Student 
  Taylor Booth - West Virginia University - Graduate Student 
  Cory Bauerlien - Coastal Carolina University - Graduate Student 

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.
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  • Home
  • James River, VA
    • 2020 Results
    • 2021 Results
    • Final Results
    • Musky map
  • Stonewall Jackson, WV
    • Final Results
    • 2021 Results
    • Musky Map
  • Pond Study
  • Results