American eel not threatened or endangered

[EricM]

Some interesting quotes from the minutes of the meting. I haven't gotten all the way through it yet, but wanted to share some of what I found so far on the relationship btw. eels and freshwater.

From the American Eel Status Review Workshop 1: Atlantic Coast/Islands Threats

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Cooperation with National Marine Fisheries Service

National Conservation Training Center
Shepherdstown, West Virginia
November 29 – December 1, 2005

"Rob indicated the US Endangered Species Act (ESA) seems to be driven by extinction. He asked if the question was, if we loose the freshwater habitat, will the American eel go extinct? Heather stated that was really the question, but the lawyer won’t let us ask the question. She said what she can ask, is whether the freshwater habitats are important for sustainability?"

"Steve Gephard noted that some of the discussion reflects researchers that want to quantify and define very precisely. For the big picture, he thought that this missed the point. He noted the animal forces itself upstream into freshwater habitat, and in Connecticut, it is the most widespread and abundant animal present in such habitats. It seemed arrogant to him to even question the importance of this habitat to them. It would be similar to him to questioning the value of tropical habitat for scarlet tanagers wintering, for example. If we question the value of freshwater habitat, we’re questioning the catadromous nature of the species."

"John Casselman noted that at one time, eels were half the inshore biomass in the Great Lakes, and they aren’t today. He viewed the freshwater habitat as really critical."

"Alastair noted that it was clear that freshwater was important to eel life history, and clearly was threatened."

"John Casselman noted that there were advantageous factors in freshwater. He critically important. The eels would survive, but not at a productive level."

"Heather noted that “sustainable” here didn’t relate to fishery use. She noted that she didn’t add enough eels to provide for fishery use, in a Status Review, only those necessary to sustain the population viability and keep it from going extinct."

"Heather noted that a decline is not a reason for listing. The issue is whether it will remain on the planet at a level which is sustainable for the population. But, it can’t be on some downward trend that will continue. That would mean we list it as threatened. Paul noted we don’t know what the true trend is at all. "