Eels-Endangered?

[stripermaineiac]

Hi all, I've been hearing more and more talk about a group pushing to get the North american eels placed on the endangered species watch list or some such action. Has anyone else been hearing the same or anything else on this issue. The bait -food sourse- for all the fish up here has been getting worse each year and with the huge summer rains we;ve been seeing i know that the eels along with everything else has been hard pressed to find enough food. you can see the malnutrition in the eels in the bait shops by all the sores on them from them trying to feed on each other after being captured. But there;s still loads of them up . Just not as many people trapping them as their used to be. It's real hard work and as you can tell fewer people want to work hard as it's easyier to collect unemployment than work LOL.

[Ed B]

I do know that there was a big market for elvers where the Japanese were paying big money (like hundreds of dollars a pound) for baby eels and there was concern that this could put a huge dent in the population with concerns of poaching and overexploitation. Apparently the bottom fell out of the market as some alternate source was found, and some of the concern diminished.
I'm really not sure where it all stands right now. You might check the web pages for your state fisheries and see if they have any mention of eel regulations.

[MakoMike]

The ASMFC is currently studying this, try their website.

[Mr. Sandman]

The eels I have been getting are grown for bait. They are given a growth hormone and in 6 mo they are pretty darn big. But the problem is they look a little weird. They have large bug-like eyes, they don't stay on the hook as well as the natural ones do (a weak jaw) and they are shorter and thinker then natural ones. The bass sem to eat them ok but I like the natural ones caught in cages.
Eels are gone around here now. The cormorants got them all. (another protected species) the DMF and other prtection freaks don't get the big picture.

The seal is the next huge problem...we need to thin the numbers.

[basswipe]

The American eel can live in fresh water quite easily.The potential for aqua-farming is there.If the demand were high enough people would looking into that possibility.

[MakoMike]

Originally posted by basswipe
The American eel can live in fresh water quite easily.The potential for aqua-farming is there.If the demand were high enough people would looking into that possibility.

Problem is that no one has been able to figure out how to breed them. Almost nothing is known about their spawning. BTW- american eels, the males spend most of their lives in brackish or salt water, the females spend most of their lives in fresh water.