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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Neither it's due to natural mortality.

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.

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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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.

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