http://www.hngn.com/articles/129565/20150915/american-eels-endangered-listed-species-act-end-month.htm

Thats going to suck if they are listed and no longer available as bait. Shut down the elver fishery, how short sighted of a fishery is that...

They survived without using river herring as bait, they will continue to catch fish without eels. Improvise, adapt, and overcome. Shut it down before it's too late.

My guess is u can culture them like rabbits

LOL "we'll grow em, you sling em" , next day UPS

My guess is u can culture them like rabbits

LOL "we'll grow em, you sling em" , next day UPS

Never been successfully done. All aquaculture starts with wild harvested elvers.
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The number that are killed is huge . The price shows how hard elvers are to get. Like all things when huge money is at stake there is no more reason to conserve. I've always wondered how many of these quote commercial fishermen actually pay income tax. Bet not a lot. We used to have so many eels in Maine before the elver thing started that you could drop a minnow trap anywhere water was brackish and get eels.

I never thought me as a dyed-in-the-wool eel fisherman would ever say it but no big deal. Its been the year of the plug anyway...... Plus i got about 50 dead eels in the freezer for riggies.....and catch me if u can as i got pots
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I never thought me as a dyed-in-the-wool eel fisherman would ever say it but no big deal. Its been the year of the plug anyway...... Plus i got about 50 dead eels in the freezer for riggies.....and catch me if u can as i got pots
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I've got a bunch in the freezer too, but it's nice to know that I can raid your pots if I really need live ones.
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I hear yea Mike last 2 years iv had a good plug bite ...last year I did good with plugs but eels produced better ...this year I'd say the plug bite has been better then eeling but regardless I'll fish eels till my freezer supply is gone
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I noticed the words "regulatory oversight" used in the article, nothing good ever happens when you get the bureaucrats involved.
Also noted the market for elvers has gone crazy, we all know what group is causing that.

ever notice that anything considered to be a "delicacy"
ends up on the endangered list

Before you condemn the elver fishery consider that only about 1 in 10,000 elvers ever makes it to adulthood!

Might as well give on using eels next year!
I mean, we've had a moratorium on herring for how many years now? And when do you think we will be able to start using them again?

Answer.....NEVER!

The same will happen with eels.

Remember that poachers are too stupid, too ignorant and too arrogant to read and comprehend what they are helping destroy!

Now if all the funds we paid to the freshwater and marine fisheries were to be used to control and curtail these POS we might have a little piece of mind, but we'll NEVER get the bait back again!!!

Add to this the problems related to plastics and the environment, and we are truly screwed!

on a similar note

i was truly amazed at how many cigarette butts
wind up in the belly of lake trout up North.

i'd wager that the same tobacco smokin
idiots complaining about the lousy fishing
are the same one's flickin their butts into the lake.

Well it would be nice to switch back to herring, it's only been 16 years since we were able to use them.
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Well it would be nice to switch back to herring, it's only been 16 years since we were able to use them.
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My favorite

Before you condemn the elver fishery consider that only about 1 in 10,000 elvers ever makes it to adulthood!

thats the exact reason they should close that ridiculous fishery... its agold-rush mentality that encourages cheating, and even some robberies.

AND if only 1 in 10,000 make it to adulthood, they should not remove hundreds of thousands of elvers from the population and make their likelihood of surviving to adulthood that much less likely...

right?

Just like striped bass... It's all about the money.
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Eben - the pleasure sticks will make a comeback - start pouring.

All kidding aside this would probably knock a bunch of one dimensional charter boat guys out of the picture.

Before you condemn the elver fishery consider that only about 1 in 10,000 elvers ever makes it to adulthood!

And when you take a year like 2012, when the Maine harvest was about 3.4 million elvers, zero of those make it to adulthood. ~3.3 million of which would have been consumed in the food chain. Now they aren't available as energy in the system and the few elvers left unharvested face even greater pressure. Good point if you leave out the "before you condemn" part.

thats the exact reason they should close that ridiculous fishery... its agold-rush mentality that encourages cheating, and even some robberies.

AND if only 1 in 10,000 make it to adulthood, they should not remove hundreds of thousands of elvers from the population and make their likelihood of surviving to adulthood that much less likely...

right?

Well, look at it this way, if you buy a dozen eels you probably have done more damage to the eel population than the average elver fisherman.

Well it would be nice to switch back to herring, it's only been 16 years since we were able to use them.
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Bobby, is it really 16 years?? I remember netting them at Gilbert Stuart and live lining them under the Sprague Bridge.

Also use to get them at the Nonquit Dam in Tiverton and live line when the stream dumped into the Sakonnet.

Well, look at it this way, if you buy a dozen eels you probably have done more damage to the eel population than the average elver fisherman.

Mike- I know you're a pro-commercial guy, but now you're just not making sense. allowing the harvest of elvers takes millions of potential adults out of the equation before they can grow and reproduce.... guys who use eels for bait are taking adults that have already reproduced.....

From what I've read, I'm fairly certain that as soon as a mature silver eel reproduces it soon dies. It takes somewhere between 5 and 30 years for an adult eel to reproduce and they spawn only once in a lifetime.

Mike- I know you're a pro-commercial guy, but now you're just not making sense. allowing the harvest of elvers takes millions of potential adults out of the equation before they can grow and reproduce.... guys who use eels for bait are taking adults that have already reproduced.....

Wrong on so many counts. The eels we use for bait are not adults, they are "yellow eels" they turn into "silver eels" when they become adults. Once adults migrate to the Sargasso sea they die. You will never see a post spawn adult eel.

1 pound of elvers equals approx. 5,000 fish so it takes an elver fisherman taking 2 pounds of elvers to reduce the adult population by 1, So if you have a dozen eels you have done as much damage to the population as an elver fisherman who catches 24 pounds of elvers. (I doubt that most elver fishermen are that successful but I don't know for sure)

I don't have a dog in this fight, as I seldom fish with eels. Last time I did it was probably five years ago. I'm just trying to bring the facts out, not following the old mantra that its always commercial fishing to blame.

I did a lot of research into this the last time around, even wrote several articles for the fisherman mag and On The water about it. Nothing seems to have changed in the last 8 years.

Nothing seems to have changed in the last 8 years.

well except for the price per pound....:smokin:

well except for the price per pound....:smokin:

This is true. But it has been gyrating more than the stock market the past couple of years. (want to buy some eel futures? :) )

Before you condemn the elver fishery consider that only about 1 in 10,000 elvers ever makes it to adulthood!

Is that number because of the elver fishery or despite the elver fishery? :confused:

Wrong on so many counts. The eels we use for bait are not adults, they are "yellow eels" they turn into "silver eels" when they become adults. Once adults migrate to the Sargasso sea they die. You will never see a post spawn adult eel.

1 pound of elvers equals approx. 5,000 fish so it takes an elver fisherman taking 2 pounds of elvers to reduce the adult population by 1, So if you have a dozen eels you have done as much damage to the population as an elver fisherman who catches 24 pounds of elvers. (I doubt that most elver fishermen are that successful but I don't know for sure)

I don't have a dog in this fight, as I seldom fish with eels. Last time I did it was probably five years ago. I'm just trying to bring the facts out, not following the old mantra that its always commercial fishing to blame.

I did a lot of research into this the last time around, even wrote several articles for the fisherman mag and On The water about it. Nothing seems to have changed in the last 8 years.

You equate 2lbs of elvers or 10,000 individual elvers to one adult eel and then stated that the yellow eels used for fishing are not the adults (silver eel). Your logic would be correct if those dozen eels purchased at the bait shop were silver eels but their not, they are yellow eels. Do you know how many yellow eels needed to make one adult silver eel being that you studied this topic extensively?

In addition to the above question do you know how many elvers are needed to have one "yellow eel"
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I highly recommend the book "consider the eel". It's an eye opening account of the life cycle of the eel, the eel potting fishery, the elver fishery, culinary aspects and all sorts of other eel tidbits. If you read it you will never want to kill another eel again.
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Is that number because of the elver fishery or despite the elver fishery? :confused:

Neither it's due to natural mortality.

You equate 2lbs of elvers or 10,000 individual elvers to one adult eel and then stated that the yellow eels used for fishing are not the adults (silver eel). Your logic would be correct if those dozen eels purchased at the bait shop were silver eels but their not, they are yellow eels. Do you know how many yellow eels needed to make one adult silver eel being that you studied this topic extensively?

You are absolutely correct. No I don't know how many yellow eels make it to become silver eels. I would assume that, like most other fish, the mortality is much less as they grow larger.

I was trying to make a point, which some here seem to miss completely, e.g. the average fisherman who uses eels is doing almost as much damage to the eel population as an elver fisherman.

they are very interesting creatures. seems pretty obvious to me that if they are endangered or even close to it that use as bait should be off the table.

How about a size limit like striped bass. How would people feel if bass where taken and sold the same size and quantity as elvers.
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Size doesn't really matter, quantity does.
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I'd be happy if dem could keep the maine guys out of the stretch i pot eels in. theres zero enforcement in ri.

Size doesn't really matter, quantity does.
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Sure it does if it's illegal to possess any eels under..lets say 10" for instance.
Folks got together and got the striper regs changed, maybe it's time to save the eels.
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I guess I'm just saying they are all immature, 10" or 18" your taking an immature eel that has yet to reproduce. Impact on the species is about the same.
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If we want to split hairs... What age cycle has the highest mortality rate?? If it is what I think it is, it's between the elver and yellow stages. My theory is by the yellow eel stage, the males have taken up residence in estuaries and the bigger females are in freshwater by then. I "think" that most of the bait sized eels are males that are for the most part potted from estuaries and if they are like bass, one male can fertilize a lot of eggs from many females, so in my opinion the fishery that does the most damage is the elver fishery as you are removing both males and females by the millions. Y'all need to read that book. ;)
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I guess I'm just saying they are all immature, 10" or 18" your taking an immature eel that has yet to reproduce. Impact on the species is about the same.
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How many 10" elvers are there? If there are approximately 5000 to a pound I highly doubt the elvers being exported are 10"
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Guess we're just talking about different things. I'm all for banning the elver fishery. If the species is in trouble, I'm also all for banning their use as bait, though eben makes a good point about that. I thought you were talking about a size limit for "bait" eels, for lack of a better word.
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I've always been amazed at size limits for eels - its almost impossible to measure a "live" eel ;)

I'm going to start to sell off all my 13" Ledge Runner Mega Jerks this winter, along with everything else in lots; including molds. Once winter rolls in I will start posting in classified. Not many bass would be able to tell the difference under the cover of darkness. Lots of plastic imitations out there that will work just fine.

Guess we're just talking about different things. I'm all for banning the elver fishery. If the species is in trouble, I'm also all for banning their use as bait, though eben makes a good point about that. I thought you were talking about a size limit for "bait" eels, for lack of a better word.
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There already is a minimum size limit of 9 inches and a possession limit of 25 eels per person.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, OCTOBER 7, 2015
PRESS CONTACT: TINA BERGER, 703.842.0740

“The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is encouraged by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to not list American eel under the Endangered Species Act,” states Commission Chair Dr. Louis B. Daniel, III. “The Commission, its member states, and federal partners have invested significant resources over the past several years to conduct the first coastwide benchmark stock assessment for American eel. The assessment findings, which were fully endorsed by an independent panel of fisheries scientists, have formed the basis of our current management for American eel. This management program seeks to reduce mortality and increase conservation of American eel stocks across all life stages. However, given the current depleted status of the resource, there is still considerable work to be done to rebuild American eel. The Commission will continue to closely monitor American eel fisheries and the status of the resource, and make adjustments to the management program as necessary, to ensure stock rebuilding.”

Once again the government chooses financial interests over the well being of a species.
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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that the American eel is stable and does not need protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Nonetheless, for the species' long-term stability, the agency recommends continuing efforts to maintain healthy habitats, monitor harvest levels, and improve river passage for migrating eels.

The life of the American eel begins and ends in the Sargasso Sea in the North Atlantic Ocean. Millions of adult American eels leave waters from as far north as Greenland and south to Venezuela to reproduce in the Sargasso Sea. Hundreds of millions of American eel larvae return from the sea to freshwater, estuarine and marine waters. Their random mating behavior makes eels panmictic, meaning the species is composed of one population worldwide. They are a culturally and biologically important part of the aquatic ecosystems in the Western Hemisphere. American eels have been harvested for thousands of years by Native American cultures, and were an important part of the diet of early colonial settlers.

Today's decision, also known as a 12-month finding, follows an in-depth status review on a 2010 petition to list the eel as threatened under the ESA. The review was largely based on a biological species report peer-reviewed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-Fisheries, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Forest Service, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's Eel Technical Committee and academia. After examining the best scientific and commercial information available regarding past, present and future stressors facing the species, the Service determined the eel's single population is overall stable and not in danger of extinction (endangered) or likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future (threatened).

While American eels still face local mortality from harvest and hydroelectric facilities, this is not threatening the overall species. Harvest quotas and mechanisms restoring eel passage around dams and other obstructions have also reduced these effects. Dam removals, culvert replacements, night-time hydroelectric facility shutdowns, and updated passage structures have restored habitat access in many areas. The Service is working with partners across the range on conservation efforts to ensure long-term stability for the American eel and other migratory fish species. The agency's Northeast fisheries program alone has removed or improved more than 200 barriers to fish passage since 2009, opening more than 1,200 miles and 12,000 acres of rivers for aquatic wildlife including the American eel. The Service has also secured $10.4 million in Hurricane Sandy resilience funding to restore fish passage through removal of 13 dams in Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey and Rhode Island.

American eels remain widely distributed throughout much of their historical range, despite habitat loss and reduced numbers over the past century. New information reiterates their flexibility and adaptability by indicating that some eels complete their life cycle in estuarine and marine waters, contrary to former research that suggested eels required freshwater for growing to adulthood.

This is the second time the Service has evaluated the American eel for listing under the ESA and found listing not warranted. The first decision came in 2007 after an extensive status review. This 12-month finding will be published in the Federal Register on October 8, 2015. The finding and supporting documents can be found at http://www.fws.gov/northeast/americaneel/.

Good read thanks mike
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Too bad taking eels off the menu would have been good for the eels and the bass also. I speak from personal experience that we have become too dependent on the live eel. Beside without the live eel there would be a reduction of bass taken (especially large).

^^ right...

what he said