eel meeting?

[ZuluHotel]

Starting to see the logic of the ESA argument--especially after hearing TimW's articulate breakdown. As much as I hate the idea of eels going away as a bait source, I got thinking about the situation on the ride home from the hearing. Any REAL effort to protect eels would have to cross a number of agency boundaries--dealing with hydroelectric licensing, export of glass and food eels, etc. I would have to disagree with a few other posts here. I doubt the stock assessment will paint a very nice picture, and that certainly will have a big impact of USF&W findings, as well as future Commission actions via addenda or amendments. Timeline would likely be 2007 if the USF&W defers to ASMFC, but I suspect the Commission will have to implement something with teeth, likely through possession restriction, in that scenario. Otherwise, I'd expect some major action from USF&W sooner than later.

ASMFC action seems like it will be futile--you're not going to solve stock collapse involving complicated environmental issues by simply banning possession or restricting fishing for eels.

If something is going to be done, I'd just as soon see something that will create REAL change.

Was good to see all in attendance, and I'm sure glad--as Dennis is--that I at least got to pick up my eel-possession exemption permit.

Zach Harvey

[Clogston29]

Does anyone know if it is possible for eels to be raised in captivity (farm raised) and then released back into the wild once mature to spawn. The reason I ask is that if the commercial fishery takes (and I’m using numbers from earlier in this post) 2.5 million elvers (which at the stated rate of 100,000 elvers to produce one spawn ready eel equates to only 250 adult eels), couldn’t something be worked out that they were required to release a percentage of those eels after they reach maturity to spawn. To me it seems that raising the eels in captivity and releasing them as an adult would greatly increase their chances of survival (based on the assumption that the majority of predation and mortality occurs in the juvenile life stages) and that if the numbers taken and percentages returned to the wind are figured out correctly, having a commercial eel farming industry could actually help eel populations if done responsibly. Keep in mind that its early in the morning and I’m just thinking out loud here with no research to back me up on this.

[MakoMike]

29,
I raised that exact same point while I was discussing the eel situation with a couple of members of the ASMFC's technical committe. They told me that's almost exactly what they do in europe with european eels. They harvest the glass eels and raise them in captivity and then, when they are adults they must release something like three adults for every 100,000 elvers they took in. OTOH - the european eel is also in trouble, maybe as much so as the American eel.

[eelman]

Originally Posted by ZuluHotel

Starting to see the logic of the ESA argument--especially after hearing TimW's articulate breakdown. As much as I hate the idea of eels going away as a bait source, I got thinking about the situation on the ride home from the hearing. Any REAL effort to protect eels would have to cross a number of agency boundaries--dealing with hydroelectric licensing, export of glass and food eels, etc. I would have to disagree with a few other posts here. I doubt the stock assessment will paint a very nice picture, and that certainly will have a big impact of USF&W findings, as well as future Commission actions via addenda or amendments. Timeline would likely be 2007 if the USF&W defers to ASMFC, but I suspect the Commission will have to implement something with teeth, likely through possession restriction, in that scenario. Otherwise, I'd expect some major action from USF&W sooner than later.

ASMFC action seems like it will be futile--you're not going to solve stock collapse involving complicated environmental issues by simply banning possession or restricting fishing for eels.

If something is going to be done, I'd just as soon see something that will create REAL change.

Was good to see all in attendance, and I'm sure glad--as Dennis is--that I at least got to pick up my eel-possession exemption permit.

Zach Harvey

Howdy Zach, Just dont take Jims story idea away! Good to see you here......

It is what it is and I would not want to see eels wiped out so, I agree if something needs to be done, do it with some teeth!