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Author:
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Paul Gainey
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Date published:
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28-Aug-2008
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Keywords:
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eels, Gulf, Andy Don, Zoological
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They've been travelling the four thousand miles from the Sargasso Sea near Bermuda, to the Somerset levels and moors for millions of years. Now, thanks to work by the Environment Agency, World experts are getting closer to working out how to save the glass eel - one of the most endangered species on Earth - from almost certain extinction.
Andy Don from the Environment Agency has just come back from the Royal Zoological Society in London where he's been giving a lecture to top government scientists and experts from some of the top universities in Britain.
He was showing them CCTV footage of his groundbreaking work, filming juvenile eels - or elver - as they passed through a series of brand new ‘eel passes' which the Environment Agency has made for them at Oath Lock on the River Parret and GreyLake Sluice on Kings Sedgemoor Drain. They're designed to help them migrate upstream into fresh water.
The cameras use night-vision technology to monitor the eels as they move around after dark. On one night recently, they picked up ten thousand of them as they migrated upstream into freshwater. The elvers stay in our rivers and streams for around ten years - where they eventually mature into silver eels - before they start to head downstream to start their long journey back to Bermuda where they spawn and eventually die.
“The seminar I gave in London went really well and it was a real privilege to present my work to such a prestigious audience. It was a great feeling to know that my work could directly lead to greater protection of this species” said Andy who is based in Bridgwater. “What we're filming is important. Our rivers in the South West play a vital role in the life cycle of the eel. Although they've declined in number around Europe since the mid 1980's, here in the South West they have stabilised. The eels play a vital role in our river ecology and are an important source of food for species such as the bittern and otter.”
Andy's project is part of work to help create an Eel Management Plan which will be sent off to the European Parliament. Brussels will then use this information to develop a road map to help save the eel. One of the recommendations is likely to be the building of more eels passes to help the eels get past weirs and other obstructions. The Environment Agency is actively looking into installing more passes in the Somerset and Bristol catchment areas.
Andy went on the say: “Some people might care about eels. But they should. They get flushed to Europe by the Gulf Stream - the current of warm water which stabilises the climate of the British Isles. We still don't know for sure, but the decline of glass eels could be an indicator of changes which are happening to the Gulf Stream.”
