Eel Moritorium - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

MoroneSaxatilis · 01-11-2006, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slapshot

I attended one of the public comment meetings in CT on eels that the ASMFC and the CTDEP put on. THe largest commercial processor of amercian eels spoke at this meeting. According to him the amount of eels sold for recreational fishing purposes is "miniscule" compared to the total amount processed. I asked him where they go, and his response was overseas - mostly europe, then asia.

Now THAT... is interesting.

MakoMike · 01-11-2006, 01:23 PM

The ASMFC stock assessment is complete and it has gone through peer review. It will be discussed by the ASMFC management board at their February meeting. The stock assesment (which has not yet been released to the public) is reported to be so bleak that there is some talk of the ASMFC taking emergency action on eels, but nothing is on the table yet.

The USF&WS held its first workshop on the eels on late Nov. - early Dec, The minutes of the workshops are available on the USF&WS web site. (They are 84 pages long) They will be holding three more workshops between noe and sometime in the late spring/early summer. Any action they take to list the eels as either threatened or endangered likely won't have any effect until the 2007 fishing season.

You can read more in my Article in On The Water's January edition or on the Noreast website, there is a link on the homepage. I'll be happy to answer any questions.