Licence Now Required To Fish For Eels in Scotland !

The SFCA has recently be made aware that in August 2008 the Marine Directorate of the Scottish Government joined its European partners in introducing a protection order on the European Eel (Anguilla Anguilla).  This protection order requires anyone fishing for eels to obtain a licence to do so from the Scottish Government.  The protection order has been introduced to try to reverse the dramatic decline in the eel population that has taken place over the past 30 years.  Unfortunately, while the protection order was aimed at controlling the commercial eeling industry it does not exclude recreational anglers.  This leaves a situation where anglers caught with eels in their possession without a licence could be liable for prosecution.  For the purpose of clarification, having eels retained in a keepnet could be considered as having them in your possession.  The SFCA has made representation to the Marine Directorate that eels are often caught by coarse anglers whilst legitimately persuing other species.  They have undertaken to review the Protection Order as soon as is practical with a view to excluding recreational angling.  In the meantime, to ensure that none of our members are acting illegally or can be accused of doing so, the SFCA is introducing the following rules to all of its competitions and is encouraging all clubs and individual anglers to do the same:

• Eels will not count in any SFCA match and must not be placed in keepnets.

    Eels are to be unhooked carefully using wet hands and returned to the water immediately.  Dry items such as towels, newspaper and landing nets should not be used to hold eels as they will remove excessive amounts of the essential slime that the eel relies upon to protect it from infection.  Instead, the eel should be moved away from the water’s edge and laid on a soft material such as an unhooking mat.  If the eel is found to be uncontrollable it is recommended that its eyes be covered with a wet dark material. Gently sooth your wet hands down the sides of the eel and you will find it calms down. Alternatively turn the eel on its back and straighten it out. This puts the eel into a sort of coma or induced calm. If this method is used the hook should be removed quickly and the eel returned to the upright position as soon as possible as prolonged time left in this position could damage the eel and eventually lead to death.

If an eel that has been caught has swallowed the hook deeply the following procedure, which has been taken from the National Anguillla Club website, is to be followed:

A disgorger should not be used if the hook cannot be seen as many of the eel’s vital internal organs are very close behind the head.

Instead, the line is to be cut as close hook as possible and the fish returned to the water.  While this may seem unacceptable, eels will often be able to regurgitate small barbless hooks and if not, their strong stomach acids will break the hook down so that it can be passed through their system.  In either case the eel will have a far greater chance of survival than if a disgorger accidentally punctures an internal organ.

The SFCA strongly recommends that all anglers use barbless hooks for all of their fishing, that rods are not left unattended and that bites are struck as soon as possible and are not allowed to develop, in order to avoid deep hooking.

Further information on the Protection Order will be published on this website as soon as the new Order comes into force.

The following is an article from Chris Daphne, Environment Officer of the National Anguilla Club outlining the plight of the eel and asking all coarse anglers to support them by not purchasing eel sections to use as bait.  The SFCA strongly supports this position and encourages all of its members to do the same.

Tight Lines,

Gus Brindle

Chairman

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The European Eel - A species under threat.

With the pike and zander “season” well and truly under way now, many anglers will be considering using eel section as bait. We (the National Anguilla Club) ask pike and zander anglers to think again before the purchase a pack of eel sections or kill an eel to use as bait. Whilst “one or two” mature eels taken in this way will not affect stock levels, the quantity used by significant numbers of anglers will, and buying eel sections only feeds the market. If tackle dealers find that anglers do not buy them then they will not stock them. Your refusal to use eels also sends a very clear message to other anglers and non anglers that we are serious about saving the species. The extract form a recent article shown below highlights the fact that there is no sustainable source for the eel:

The European Eel Anguilla anguilla is a complex and often misunderstood species. It starts life in the Sargasso Sea where it drifts on oceanic currents before reaching European shores up to 4 years later. From here, as Elvers, they migrate into our River systems where they spend up to 50 years, feeding and growing before returning back to the Sargasso to spawn.

This long lifecycle along with some natural and anthropogenic influence makes the species susceptible to possible extinction. It is already thought that the species has declined by approximately 99% since the 1980’s. This is alarming and has raised the question as to whether Eel stocks are sustainable.

The decline of the species has been reported since the 1940’s in Northern Europe and since the 1980’s in the rest of the continental range. Scientists from Indicang (pan European Eel research group) have demonstrated that Eel stocks are in decline and in some regions, mainly in the North of its distribution area, the situation is critical. Some restocking programmes (Northern Ireland, Baltic Sea and Italian lagoons) have succeeded in sustaining local fisheries but the decline continues where stocking has not been carried out. So what are the causes of this dramatic decline?

   There are two major stages of the lifecycle which affect the decline in stocks

• Elver Recruitment
• Spawner escapement

Both are linked.  It is thought that a reduction in spawning stock, caused by declining Eel stocks may be sufficient to cause a recruitment collapse as in 1980.  There is evidence that the decline in recruitment was preceded by a decline in Eel landings approximately 2-3 decades earlier, as the time lag roughly corresponded to the generation period for faster growing stocks. Therefore, initial stock decline could not be caused by reduced recruitment but could be a potential cause of reduced recruitment.

Causes.

Recruitment Decline

• Over Exploitation
• Changes in oceanographical conditions, possibly linked to climate change
• Reduction in accessible freshwater habitat
• Pollution
• Parasitism

Stock Decline

• Over Exploitation
• Loss of good yellow Eel habitat, loss of wetlands, pollution, over abstraction.
• Barriers to migration, physical - weirs etc and water quality and quantity.
• Reduction in Elver stocking in waters beyond normal migration range.

Eels are not bred in captivity; aquaculture relies on the collection of seed Eels (Elvers) which are then grown on. This means that the species is unsustainable as ALL Eels sold in restaurants, shops and bait suppliers have been taken from the wild initially. The European Eel is currently deemed the most at risk vertebrate in the country and is currently on the IUCN Red list.

Help us save the eel – do not use them as bait!

C.Daphne

Environment Officer

National Anguilla Club

The NAC are currently working alongside the Angling Trust and the Environment agency in order to save the species.