Wriggle room for the eel

The common eel is now a protected species after a decline caused by overfishing, pollution and parasites — but this year is different

- LINDSAY WADDELL

When I caught an eel as a young boy, it was just about my worst nightmare. A slimy wriggling mass of coils around your line, which somehow you had to remove. I guess I was not alone. I do not use worms any more when I fish.

It will not be something many young anglers have to deal with these days as the common eel is no longer as common as it once was. It is estimated that numbers have declined by 90% to 98% in the space of 50 years. It’s yet one more species humans have pushed to the brink.

We used to harvest about 20,000 tons of eels per year in the 1960s and yet, by the turn of the century, the catch was down to 5,000. This massive decline was no doubt aided by overfishing for adults, as every single waterbody that could be accessed for eels was targeted.

Anguilla anguilla is what is known as a catadromous fish, one that goes to the sea to spawn, and humans have utilised them as food for as long as they have been on the planet. Smoked and jellied was the favoured method for adult eels in this country, but it is not the world’s only choice for the culinary use of the species because we eat the glass eels as well.