International eel symposium, 2003 - Quebec August 11, 2003
Oral Presentation

Restoration and Management of the European Eel (Anguilla anguilla): An Impossible Mission? A Conceptual Thinking

Feunteun E.P.* Laboratoire de Biologie et d'Environnement Marins, Université de La Rochelle, Avenue Enrico Fermi, 17042 La Rochelle Cédex, France.Eric.feunteun@univ-lr.fr

Presenter email address: eric.feunteun AT univ-lr.fr

Abstract Text: Despite implementation of national, regional or local initiatives to manage subpopulations of European eels, their numbers still decline. So why have these initiatives failed? At local scales (small catchments) some initiatives succeeded to sustain inland stocks. At national levels, regulations were developed to control fisheries to enable escapement of recruits, to reduce yellow eel fishing mortality, or to ensure silver eel escapement. Some regulations enforce river developers to enable free access to upstream areas. Little concern is paid to ensure the production of a successful breeding stock. At the European level, community recommendations are inefficient to implement a harmonised management plan which acts on all mortality causes including habitat quality and extent. Moreover, there is no well revealed social concern about the conservation of the species that is still thought to be forever abundant, resistant, mysterious and worrying! The fundamentals of management of eels need reconsideration based upon enhancement of the breeding stock in a general up-scale/down-scale framework. These eel-centered initiatives also have to be integrated into more general environmental initiatives (EU-Directive Cadre sur l'Eau). Eels could be considered as biointegrators of the efficiency of such environmental policies.