Alarming muskie decline in the St. Lawrence River: Invasive fish species, virus could be contributing
The St. Lawrence River’s muskie fishery has taken a few hits for more than a decade and the numbers of this celebrated fish in the river show continual signs of dropping, U.S. and Canadian researchers said.
Among the likely reasons is the presence in the river of round gobies, an invasive bait fish, which some researchers say are possibly gobbling up muskie eggs on the fish’s numerous spawning grounds on the river.
The recent data has come from the annual seining (netting) research being done on more than 100 known muskie spawning sites on both the Canadian and U.S. sides of the river during the spring. (Article to Read More)