Pray for the eels
Nov. 30th, 2003 09:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
novapsycheEels face extinction as numbers drop by 99 per cent in 20 years
Tough new powers to save the eel from a catastrophic slump in numbers are to be introduced after experts warned that the European eel is facing extinction. Biologists warned last month that European eel populations could be as low as one per cent of the size they were 20 years ago. It is one of the most severe and puzzling slumps in any fish species seen by conservationists.
[...] The European eel has been caught in a dangerous paradox, its report said. As their numbers have slumped, their sale price has leapt upwards, making them even more valuable for commercial fishermen and poachers. Young eel, known as glass eels or elvers, are caught by the ton for eel farms, but they are also used to restock rivers and lakes such as Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland, where populations have slumped.
But the price for elvers is now so high that experts at the Environment Agency, respon- sible for protecting English rivers and estuaries, fear they cannot afford to buy enough elvers to restock depleted areas. In 1998, the price of elvers reached £250 per kilo.
"Due to the high price of eels, there are strong economic incentives to continue fishing down to the last few recruits," the commission said.
The crisis is worsened because adult eels live for up to 15 years before going back to sea to mate and spawn, so eel populations can take several decades to rebuild. "This means that the eel stock is in an extremely high-risk situation," it added.
Tough new powers to save the eel from a catastrophic slump in numbers are to be introduced after experts warned that the European eel is facing extinction. Biologists warned last month that European eel populations could be as low as one per cent of the size they were 20 years ago. It is one of the most severe and puzzling slumps in any fish species seen by conservationists.
[...] The European eel has been caught in a dangerous paradox, its report said. As their numbers have slumped, their sale price has leapt upwards, making them even more valuable for commercial fishermen and poachers. Young eel, known as glass eels or elvers, are caught by the ton for eel farms, but they are also used to restock rivers and lakes such as Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland, where populations have slumped.
But the price for elvers is now so high that experts at the Environment Agency, respon- sible for protecting English rivers and estuaries, fear they cannot afford to buy enough elvers to restock depleted areas. In 1998, the price of elvers reached £250 per kilo.
"Due to the high price of eels, there are strong economic incentives to continue fishing down to the last few recruits," the commission said.
The crisis is worsened because adult eels live for up to 15 years before going back to sea to mate and spawn, so eel populations can take several decades to rebuild. "This means that the eel stock is in an extremely high-risk situation," it added.