Is a change coming?

[Duckett]

Great to hear some positive news on the future of eels.

[Lea Dweller]

This is good news! I remember when catching 'bootlaces' was considered normal at certain times of year! They were a nuisance, but catching a better specimen was great, at least I thought so!

[Harry H]

Haven't caught an eel in donkeys years not that I've been trying but 40 years ago we would catch them by accident about 1/2 a dozen a season.
Good news indeed

[GregF]

Great to hear! One thing I really like about eels is that they are a truly wild species. I was lucky enough to catch a some quite good ones from a lake I used to fish a few years ago. Knowing nobody put them there made it feel quite special. I hope they continue to make a comeback.

[Kev D]

I couldn't believe when l fished in Dorset a few years ago that there was a huge eel grating fitted to a sluice to catch eels on their downstream journey. . Eels had been declared endangered yet The EA had licenced this trap. Some lads fishing bellow the sluice said they rarely saw an eel unless they poached the private section above the trap .
They are still licencing individual elvermen and elver dealers who supply far eastern and European fish farms.
I have caught more good sized eels over the last couple of years than ever. This is actually worrying as these bigger eels may well be the residue of fish that have been in freshwater for 5 to 15 years rather than young bootlaces that indicate constant renewal of stocks.
There is quite an interesting book on eels ,including chapters on the industrial,scale exploitation and black market of eels and elvers. I think it is simply called The Book of The Eel by Tom Fort.

[Catfish.017]

Curiously two still waters in my locality, Swansea, that have always held numbers of Eels have shown no discernible decline in stocks. One is a thirteen acre flood prevention lake with direct link to the River Tawe and notably a serious Cormorant problem. The Roach in this lake have all but disappeared yet the Eels, a recognised favourite of Cormorants and Otters, are as numerous as ever? The other water, a little boating pond alongside the very busy Mumbles Road with no stream feeding it, is again as prolific as ever and again is visited (mainly in Winter) by Cormorants. Quite puzzling?

[Hovis]

Curiously two still waters in my locality, Swansea, that have always held numbers of Eels have shown no discernible decline in stocks. One is a thirteen acre flood prevention lake with direct link to the River Tawe and notably a serious Cormorant problem. The Roach in this lake have all but disappeared yet the Eels, a recognised favourite of Cormorants and Otters, are as numerous as ever? The other water, a little boating pond alongside the very busy Mumbles Road with no stream feeding it, is again as prolific as ever and again is visited (mainly in Winter) by Cormorants. Quite puzzling?

The otter and cormorants have eaten all the eels is often banded around but, as far as I'm aware, there hasn't been a single study showing that eels are the prefered prey option. One thing that most preditors share is the fact that they predate what is most numerous or easiest to capture. You also have to remember that in some areas eels used to make up around 50% of all freshwater (fish) biomass. Staggering thought!

[Hovis]

I couldn't believe when l fished in Dorset a few years ago that there was a huge eel grating fitted to a sluice to catch eels on their downstream journey. . Eels had been declared endangered yet The EA had licenced this trap. Some lads fishing bellow the sluice said they rarely saw an eel unless they poached the private section above the trap .
They are still licencing individual elvermen and elver dealers who supply far eastern and European fish farms.
I have caught more good sized eels over the last couple of years than ever. This is actually worrying as these bigger eels may well be the residue of fish that have been in freshwater for 5 to 15 years rather than young bootlaces that indicate constant renewal of stocks.
There is quite an interesting book on eels ,including chapters on the industrial,scale exploitation and black market of eels and elvers. I think it is simply called The Book of The Eel by Tom Fort.

Kev eels are now classified as critically endangered and are a CITES listed species. This offers the same level of protection in terms of trafficking as things like rhino horn!

Full details below if you are interested:
https://www.cites.org/eng/disc/species.php

You are correct is saying the EA regulate the eel fishery through powers in the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act (SAFFA). A number of licences still exist that allow the netting or trapping of eels. This is done either through the use of the rack you've described (known as a fixed instrument) or by other means such as criggs, hives or more commonly fyke nets. It's a highly contentious issue that often angers people given the current conservation status of eels. However, there is no, again as far as I'm aware, evidence that shows that this fishery is having a detrimental impact on the species. As such it is still authorised in modest numbers - no new applications will be granted and any changes will use the latest evidence as a basis for any decision, one things for sure and that's that exploitation isn't increasing, nor should it be allow to. In fact the number of instruments being fished current has decreased over the past few years. If you are really interested an FOI would give the figures - after all it's public information. One interesting point is Brexit and the fact this may substantially impact historic sales routes for eels, such as the export to Holland. If it makes any difference is yet to be seen (or even happens). As I understand it the domestic market is rather small.

[Northern Eel]

Great news

[Liphook]

A bit like the continued commercial exploitation of salmon in the face of declining runs, the eel situation doesn't make much sense. Particularly to anglers who are asked to pay a premium for the right to catch and release. It will be interesting to see the rod licence numbers for this year and following years. I suspect this lock down situation could be the final straw for many who have teetered on the edge of packing it in for good.