Mortality, Dispersal, and Habitat Use of Stocked Juvenile Muskellunge in Two Western North Carolina Rivers

Abstract

The Muskellunge Esox masquinongy is a highly sought-after sport fish that is native to the Tennessee River drainage of western North Carolina. After the extirpation of Muskellunge from North Carolina in the 1950s, the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission began a stocking program to re-establish the species and produce viable Muskellunge fisheries in North Carolina. Although stocking efforts have created a Muskellunge fishery in, for example, the French Broad River (where the species was native), there is little evidence of success in North Carolina sections of the New River (where the species was not native). Possible mechanisms inhibiting stocking success are unclear because there is relatively little information available on the juvenile life stage of the Muskellunge, especially in the southern portion of its distribution. We addressed the perceived differences in recruitment between the two fisheries by using telemetry to investigate dispersal, mortality, and habitat use by stocked juvenile Muskellunge. Fifty hatchery-reared, age-0 Muskellunge (282-307 mm TL) were tagged prior to stocking in the New River (fall 2013) and French Broad River (fall 2014). Three months after stocking, known survival of tagged fish was 4% in the New River and 29% in the French Broad River; the survival probability after 3 months was estimated at 9% (range = 4-17%) in the New River and 37% (range = 25-56%) in the French Broad River. Extended survival in the French Broad River was 14% at 252 d poststocking. High dispersal was observed, with maximum individual dispersal of 67.4 km in the New River and 55.5 km in the French Broad River. Habitat suitability analyses indicated that juvenile Muskellunge in the FBR selected shallow nearshore areas with low water velocity, fine substrate, and substantial cover in the form of woody debris and overhanging vegetation. Information on the survival and behavior of stocked Muskellunge can facilitate efforts to successfully manage these fisheries.

Using Radiotelemetry to Evaluate Poststocking Survival and Behavior of Large Fingerling Walleye in Three Iowa, USA, Lakes

“…Walleye in this study dispersed quickly from the single stocking location at each lake but were only located a maximum of 2,250 m from the stocking location. Other telemetry studies have found that age-0 Florida Largemouth Bass dispersed over 700 m within 7 d poststocking in a Florida lake (Thompson et al 2016), juvenile European Chub Leuciscus cephalus moved approximately 75 m/d after stocking (Bolland et al 2008), and stocked Muskellunge dispersed a maximum of 67 km within 3 months poststocking in North Carolina rivers (Owensby et al 2017). Other age-0 Walleye dispersed and were collected up to 8 km away from stocking locations in Green Bay, Lake Michigan (Zorn 2015).…”

“…), and stocked Muskellunge dispersed a maximum of 67 km within 3 months poststocking in North Carolina rivers (Owensby et al. ). Other age‐0 Walleye dispersed and were collected up to 8 km away from stocking locations in Green Bay, Lake Michigan (Zorn ).…”

Spatiotemporal ecology of juvenile Muskellunge (Esox masquinongy) and Northern Pike (Esox lucius) in upper St. Lawrence River nursery bays during their inaugural fall and winter

“…These congeners indicate a preference for emergent vegetation in nearshore regions in their inaugural summer (e.g. Farrell, 1998;Hanson & Margenau, 1992;Owensby, Rice, & Aday, 2017); however, bottom-dwelling Northern Pike (Engstrom-Heg, Colesante, & Stillings, 1986) prefer dense, submerged aquatic vegetative [SAV] coverage (i.e. Casselman & Lewis, 1996;Cucherousset et al, 2009;Grimm & Backx, 1990;Pierce et al, 2013), while mid-column or surface-dwelling Muskellunge (i.e.…”

Spatial Ecology of Juvenile Muskellunge and Northern Pike in Upper St. Lawrence River Nursery Bays

“…Researchers efforts are expanding to study the spatial ecology and survival of juvenile fish, including Muskellunge (e.g. Hanson and Margenau 1992, Owensby et al 2017, and Northern Pike (Hühn et al 2014). Validating how telemetry tools may influence the welfare of fish, or limit data interpretation, is therefore imperative.…”

“…daily) movements. Radio telemetry has been used to estimate mortality, dispersal, and habitat use of stocked age-0 Muskellunge (Hanson and Margenau 1992, Wagner and Wahl 2011, Owensby et al 2017, though no validation studies were performed. Deters et al…”