stem cells were first discovered in fetus material (i dunno 10 yrs ago)
then also in embryonic fluid (5 years ago)
now they are being cloned individually (they just discovered how)

With the level of Science and technology that we are at
much more can be done to intervene to increase
survival rates the same as protecting the baby turtles
the several nights they all hatch out....

or creating more HATCHERIES ....if they are getting $2,000
per pound then there's certainly some incentive there

American eels have NEVER been bred in captivity!

I disagree. most predators are opportunistic and if the eels are there they'll eat something else. Also we don't know what the causes of natural mortality are, so it is merely an assumption that it all due to predators. As I said before, the main cause of mortality on adult, silver eels is hydroelectric dams.

not yet .... but i believe it's certainly possible

I wanna make a hybrid eel-bluefish! Oh wait, it's called a snake head....ooops!

tHERE IS AN ARTICLE ALL ABOUT THE GLASS EELS SELLING FOR $2000 a pound in todays' Sunday Boston Globe FRONT PAGE in the center.
sure tell more people how to make a hundred fifty grand in the spring quick like :rollem:
2 states allow comm fishing for them, Maine and S. Carolina

I hope some of them survive

Maybe, certainly with the price of elvers where it is now, there is plenty of incentive.

It's a systems problem though...unless steps can be taken to reduce human caused mortality you still only have the remainder in the food chain. If predators shift to other food sources does that pressure other threatened species?

-spence

I can make glass eels. :hihi:
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Do they work well for bait?

Suppose so. Jigged vertically with assist hooks
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If what you are saying is that its all interrelated and what we really need is ecosystem management, I couldn't agree more. The problem though is that relatively little is known about the ecosystem, so there is little to base any ecosystem management on. One easy fix is to shut down hydroelectric turbines during the prime migration of silver eels to the sea, but NOAA/NMFS doesn't have the authority to do that, so the killing continues.