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DZ, My brother and I had both been involved with diadromous fishery and river restoration for quite a while before we filed the ESA eel petition. A few years back he began finding adult eels chopped up below hydro dams in Maine, we were both aware of the elver boom in the 90’s, and the problems the elvers had getting upstream past dams. The more research we did on the eel, the more convinced we were there were serious problems that were not being addressed.
In part, what spurred our petition was ASMFC decision to request an ESA review of the eel. Given the sometimes indecisive nature of the ASMFC, this indicated to us there was a serious problem with eel stocks. A problem that ASMFC felt was beyond their ability to control, or to figure out. It was also clear that the individual states did not have the resources or willingness to deal with the problem.
At the time we filed the petition we did not know whether or not the Federal Services would do the ESA status review requested by ASMFC. As it turned out the Services decided to do a stock status review around the same time we filed the petition, but the Services review would not be done under the ESA. We felt it was important to have the review done under ESA, because its requirements are very specific and must be followed by action if it is determined that the species is endangered or threatened. Otherwise they could have found that the eel was endangered or threatened, but there would be no mechanism to force anyone to take action.
#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&, I am not an expert on eels, and don’t pretend to be one. My brother and I are “laymen”; we have hunted, fished and observed all our lives. We are not biologists; we researched and wrote the petition ourselves, on our own time. As for my passion and commitment to eels and the environment, I do the best I can with the time I have.
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