http://www.ellsworthamerican.com/archive/2005/04-28-05/ea_news6_04-28-05.html
This article was going around in the RISAA mail group . The price of baby eels is up and that means they will be getting scooped up in large numbers. If you do the math it can only mean bad news for the bait situation.(not to mention bad news for the eels). > but I guess that arguement doesn't hold water as we would only save them from a net to put them on a hook. However we would be using adult eels that at least could have spawned ,these lil fellas don't get that chance.

The "adult" eel we kill by the hundreds over the course of the fishing season have never spawned. Born in the Sargasso, make it to shore off of the Stream as elvers, move to fresh water, live for 5, 10, 15, leave to go back to the Sargasso. Those eels spawn only once in the Sargasso Sea and die. There in lies the shortage problem.

Thats right. Eels are kind of like the reverse-salmon that way. Born out in the mid ocean, some how make it to rivers, bays and saltponds (I find this amazing itself, without gretting consumed by other fish), live out their lives near land, then swim back to mid ocean, spawn and die. Keep in mind, little is **really known*** about eels and this is what they believe happens.. I recall reading once that eels have never been witnessed actually spawning in nature and I think they are making some assumptions on exactly what and where this all happens. Scientists are convinced that the theory of Sargasso Sea reproduction is correct, because the larvae captured there are so small that they must have hatched nearby. But a live adult eel has never been captured in the Sargasso.


There is a pretty serious eel problem now, taking lots of infants is not a good idea.

Nearly all of the eels I used for the past few years have been "farm raised" (that is what I have been told anyway). They pump some growth hormones in them and in no time (about 6 mo) you have an adult eel. ( I don't know where they get the elvers though or are the able to get them to reproduce in captivity) IMO the farm raised eels look a little funny, and they don't stay on the hook as well as natural eels but the supply is good. These farm raised eel have a "bug-eye" look to them and are thicker compared to the natural version. They seem to work just as well of catching bass though.

I buy them now, but when I was a kid...I had one or two eel pots tied to the dock and had all I could possibly use. I may try it again if the price gets too high but from what I have heard there are not many left. One problem where we are is the commorant, those suckers can catch and eel and eat it like spagetti, one after another.

Doing a little more reading about farm raising them I found:

"As there is yet no known method of breeding eels in captivity, the supply of glass eels can be a limiting factor in eel farming"

So even to farm raise them you need to harvest elvers from someplace.

situation looks bleak. Solution: Fish with plugs :boots:

The "adult" eel we kill by the hundreds over the course of the fishing season have never spawned. Born in the Sargasso, make it to shore off of the Stream as elvers, move to fresh water, live for 5, 10, 15, leave to go back to the Sargasso. Those eels spawn only once in the Sargasso Sea and die. There in lies the shortage problem.

Michele Burnette, DEM's eel specialist, gave an interesting talk to RISAA on the American eel a few months ago - the export of live elvers for the Asian market is a big factor as well as the usual culprit, habitat destruction in our streams and rivers. Another major factor is the commercial harvesting of seaweed out of the Sargasso Sea where the eels spawn. Apparently last year there was a complete recruitment failure in the St Lawrence and several other important areas.

She said the eel may go straight to the Endangered Species list prohibiting sale or possession without even making it to the watch list first. Not a real good thing for those of us partial to them as bass candy :bc:

Ya know, I wish there was someone out there smart enough to come up with a good artificial that would do a better job of mimicing the profile and
action of a live eel. I've used Sluggos and Senkos with some success, but I wish someone out there would come up with a better mousetrap - or basstrap, as the case may be.

I dunno, maybe somebody's already got it on the drawing board :huh:

So, let's just say the eel goes to the endangered list and all posession is illegal. What does the bag of frozen eels in my freezer do to me? How about the container of eelskins, eelskin jigs, and eelskin plugs in my fridge? Will I have to secretly dispose of them?

Yes send them to me I will dispose of them for you. I will be very secretive too. :faga: P.M.

THERE IS A GREAT BOOK ON THE SUBJECT CALLED "CONSIDER THE EEL" TALKS ABOUT WHAT LITTLE THEY DO KNOW IN REGARDS TO THEIR SPAWNING AND IT TALKS ABOUT THE EEL FARMING INDUSTRY (MOSTLY FOR ASIA) AND THE IMPACT IT HAS ON THE ELVER POPULATIONS HERE AND IN EUROPE.

Here is the public information document put out by ASMFC on proposed eel management.

..

Eel are Catadromous as opposed to Diadromous.

i believe its been illegal to take elvers from most states except for maine, which is the state this article came from. Its a different perspective i guess. :hs:

its unfortuante that eel stock was allowed to be depleted as its not only an important bait, but an important forage for the striped bass. Not much that can be done now.

The loss of bait is a problem. Its true we can just buy farm raised eels, I dont see that anyone can ever ban that from happening.

Farm raised eels come from the wild as well, they are captured from the wild as glass eels or elvers and raised to a marketable size in captivity. There is no artificial production of American eels in hatcheries like is done with trout or salmon. No one has even ever seen adult eels in the act of spawning.