Return of the eel

[Steve Walker]

I agree entirely, Dales, and have made the same point on AN before. The problem isn't that they are taking elvers, it's that they are taking masses when the negligible impact of recreational angling is banned entirely.

[Dales]

I agree entirely, Dales, and have made the same point on AN before. The problem isn't that they are taking elvers, it's that they are taking masses when the negligible impact of recreational angling is banned entirely.

 

I do worry that when we hear reports of improved stocks of elvers the result will be those that are allowed to take them will use it as justification to have their quotas increased.

[gozzer]

I do worry that when we hear reports of improved stocks of elvers the result will be those that are allowed to take them will use it as justification to have their quotas increased.

 

Yup, Barry's been on about ti here

http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/5445809-are-jellied-eels-coming-back/page-2

 

The thing is it's been an increase over the last few years, so some see it as the time to go back to how things were.

 

It still makes a mockery of the 'no take' law for anglers, though.

 

John.

[chesters1]

Its not just elvers being commercially taken its also other things being taken on a huge scale .

Take sand eels they are part of the food chain so anything that lives on them is effected ,in this report its only birds being discussed but ofcourse sand eels are eaten by fish upwards

We dont (as far as i know ) eat sand eels so like elvers our waters are being stripped so foreigners can use them ,our millions of cats are eating something and now cows are not allowed to eat cows their protein is coming from somewhere ,its not anglers in the main upsetting the applecart as we know but big business making more profit

http://www.scotsman.com/news/environment/sandeel-fishing-linked-to-scottish-seabird-decline-1-3216052

Now were even starting to harvest plankton which is what most sea life start out eating ,remove a percentage of that and you remove a percentage of what eats it but more importantly what eats that and so on up the food chain

 

Its not just down to the removal of eels or even fish we used to remove them by the 100/1000's? of tons when everyone used to eat them (fish on friday was mostly course fish until the railways arrived) so the decline in eels and fish is down to water quality and in the eel it must be elver removal theres nothing else that can be blamed,the EA are not concentrating on two huge reasons but blame everyone else

Removal for the pot is tiny compared to the past and whens the last time you caught an eel worth taking if you wanted to ,even the perils of my youth the bootlace eel getting caught and spoiling your day (and tackle)has gone i havnt caught one since 1960

Edited April 8, 2014 by chesters1

[Steve Walker]

Farm animal feed, pet food, fertiliser. If we aren't eating sandeels via our pork, chicken or eggs or veg we're feeding it to our cats and dogs.

[Phone]

All,

 

Is the issue - no eels - or is the issue no eels for anglers?

 

Phone

[Phone]

All,

 

Maybe, if eels are for human consumption it would be cheaper to buy this for animal feed?

 

 

 

Fishmeal harvest

 

 

Phone

[Ken L]

It probably wouldn't be economic to fish for sandeels if it were made illegal not to land every fish caught by commercial boats (with a limited number of exceptions for rare species caught using methods that they might survive) because if we met our fishmeal needs by taking fish that are currently discarded, the market price for sandeels wouldn't make them worth fishing.

[Steve Walker]

Phone, sandeels are a different issue. They are a small marine species which has no recreational fishery, apart from their use as bait. Exploitation of sandeels is a concern for anglers and conservationists because they are eaten by just about everything. Hoovering them up as a source of cheap protein, fertiliser or - I don't think this happens any more - fuel for power stations - carries a risk of big knock-on effects on other species.

 

Sandeels;

 

 

The industrial sand eel fishery used to be unregulated, with absolutely massive catches and also a lot of bycatch of undersized fish of other species, which as you can imagine did not sit well with the fishermen working to tight quotas for the human food market. After clear evidence emerged of the impact the fishery was having on seabird populations, it began to be regulated, and some fisheries were closed.

[Andy Macfarlane]

In short, the article is BS with regard to conservation and while I'm quite sure that there have been variable numbers of returning elvers over recent years, I've not heard of anyone noticing a significant reduction in eel catches to anglers, or indeed of any study of the numbers of ells present in river systems - they were certainly still present in plague proportions when i fished the lower Severn last summer.

 

That goes along with everything I've been saying about Scotland for the last decade. Because a handful of rivers in England, which by the way are commercially fished on an industrial basis, had a supposed 99% decrease in elver numbers, we were reliably informed that the eel was practically extinct and that was that. I've never known of this catastrophe. Eels of all sizes and shapes are rife up here and if you ever wanted some to repopulate a water, well come up here and fill your boots.....car boots that is.