Survival and Behavior of Stocked Juvenile Muskellunge in Successful and Unsuccessful Fisheries in Western North Carolina

Muskellunge Esox masquinongy is a popular sport fish native to the Tennessee River drainage of western North Carolina.  After pollution led to its extirpation in the 1950s, the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) began a stocking program in 1970 to reestablish viable fisheries.  Although those efforts have resulted in an established muskellunge fishery in the French Broad River, there is little evidence of success in North Carolina sections of the New River.  To address perceived differences in these two fisheries we initiated a radio telemetry study to investigate dispersal, mortality and habitat use of stocked juvenile muskellunge.  Fifty age-0, hatchery-reared muskellunge (mean TL 282-307 mm) were tagged prior to stocking in the New River (fall 2013) and French Broad River (fall 2014).  Apparent survival at three months post stocking was 4% on the New River and 29% on the French Broad River.  High dispersal was observed, with maximum individual dispersal of 67.4 km (mean 10.2 km) on the New River and 55.5 km (mean 4.7 km) on the French Broad River.  Habitat use analyses are ongoing.  Information on the survival and behavior of stocked muskellunge should be useful in the context of managing these fisheries.