FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A University of Arkansas professor’s work with state catch and release programs has earned him a service excellence award from the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Dan Magoulick, a professor of biological sciences in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, is working to advance the understanding of trout migration in open-water streams, and in the process he designed and instituted programs that repaired a strained relationship. He works in association with a federal cooperative formed through the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Wildlife Management Institute and the University of Arkansas.

At the cooperative’s recommendation, Magoulick designed a grassroots project that involved local anglers in the research process and paired their self-reported data with radio telemetry findings in order to track trout movement. Previously, knowledge of catch and release areas functioned solely on speculation; Magoulick’s findings are a complement to previous assumptions.

“Nobody had ever really looked at this to see if it would hold,” Magoulick said.

“Ultimately, the mortality rates are much higher outside the regulated areas,” said Magoulick. “So far, data has shown that fish caught in catch and release areas stay in those areas, they survive there, and subsequently they find sufficient shelter and nutrients to grow.”

Even though the study is two years from completion, early research suggests that during an entire summer, a rainbow trout might migrate two to three hundred feet. Ultimately, verification of these findings would benefit not only the state’s catch and release programs, but also outdoorsmen.

In a state where trout fishing is a big deal, these findings make it much easier for those wishing they could get back to the 'big one’ that got away. 

“The research that I’m conducting is definitely important for Arkansas, but it also has implications nationally and globally,” said Magoulick. “There are similarities in fresh water systems that can be found all over the world.” 

Wildlife cooperatives rely on coordination between multiple organizations in order to operate efficiently, said David Krementz, head of the Arkansas cooperative, and there have been some struggles with that here previously.

“There had been a lot of ill will,” said Krementz. “The co-op was depopulated, there were contractual frustrations, and there was also a perception that the co-op’s production wasn’t commensurate with its funding.”

Krementz, who nominated his associate for the award, based his recommendation not only upon Magoulick’s research quality and production, but also on the initiative taken by Magoulick in repairing the damaged channels of communication. 

“Dan selflessly going to the Game and Fish Commission and asking them what kinds of projects they would like to see implemented made a night and day difference,” said Krementz. “He really jumped into the fire to calm it down.”

Magoulick has long felt the appeal of the outdoors; the idea of having a job where he was able to work in a natural setting prompted research into a career in conservation when he was only 10 years old. 

“I grew up watching Jacques Cousteau and feeling like I wanted to make a difference,” he said. “And, even though I know it sounds sappy, it was always that I wanted to save the world.”