People are finding more and more dead eels washing up on the shores of Lake Champlain (16 this year, compared to 1 in 2018). Many of them are larger eels, which appear to be ready for migration. The trip from Lake Champlain to the Sargasso Sea is a long one, which requires entering the Richelieu River in Quebec followed by the St. Lawrence River.
What I find interesting is that the number of eels has gone up after fish ladders were installed on the dams on the Richelieu (in addition to a restocking program). Could it be that they can’t make it back downstream?
According to Vermont Fish & Wildlife biologist Bernie Pientka it’s possible that infections of the parasitic nematode Anguillicoloidus crassus could be a factor.
In other U.S. news, Trout Unlimited has received a grant for $120,000 from the New England Forests and Rivers Fund to remove barriers to five fish passage on the Presumpscot River in southern Maine, which will help American Eel and other diadromous species.
Over in Ireland a group of fishers are protesting the lack of compensation after closure of the eel fishery on the River Shannon back in 2009. They allege that the closure was originally temporary for three years (which prevented them from seeking compensation) and that 2018’s Eel Fisherperson’s Support Scheme was both unfair and inadequate.
In response, the Ireland Department of the Environment says the fishers did not have fishing rights (only permits) and received an average of 18,000.