Loomus (together with the Estonian Animal Protection Society) has proposed to take the European eel under nature protection in Estonia. On January 11, in light of the release of glass eels, i.e. eel fry brought from France for 86 thousand euros, into Estonian lakes, we repeated our proposal.
Due to its critical threat of extinction, the eel was added to the appendices of the Washington Convention, or CITES, in 2013. The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea has recommended, based on the opinion of scientists from different countries, to stop all eel fishing. The European Commission has found that restocking eels is a useless activity. Among the countries bordering the Baltic Sea, only the Baltic countries have eel without protection status. In Germany, the species is included in the list of endangered species, other countries (Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Poland) have included the eel in the list of critically endangered species. Eel is also included in the Estonian Red List, but not under protection.
Farištamo Eller, Loomus’ communications manager, emphasized that the European eel must be taken under the protection, and the sale of eels and products made from eels must be banned in Estonia. “We can’t drag it out, the species is one step away from extinction and the only chance to change it is to act decisively,” added Eller.
“In general, the current practice of relocating eels to small lakes in the Narva river basin is not effective in terms of nature conservation, but is a measure to support local fisheries, because a sufficient number of these eels do not reach the Baltic Sea and from there to the Sargasso Sea,” Joonas Plaan, sustainable fisheries expert of the Estonian Nature Foundation, commented on the case.
More specific information about European Eels:
The European eel has a fascinating and complex life cycle that involves multiple stages and long migrations between freshwater and the ocean. Their life begins in the Sargasso Sea. It’s a region of the Atlantic Ocean, east of the Bahamas.
After hatching, the larvae, also called leptocephali, are transparent, shaped like a leaf, and very small, only about 5-10 mm long. They are carried by ocean currents towards the coasts of Europe and North Africa. This journey takes about 7 to 12 months. As they approach the continental shelf, leptocephali metamorphose into glass eels.They are transparent and resemble adult eels, but are only about 6-8 cm long. The glass eels then migrate into coastal bodies and rivers, often travelling in large groups.
Now, this is the stage where many are caught for consumption or aquaculture. Glass eels are a popular delicacy in Asia. The largest contributor to glass eel fishing is France, with more than 50%, but Spain, Portugal and UK are also huge contributors. Once in freshwater, glass eels begin to develop pigmentation and become known as elvers. They are still small but now have the characteristic dark coloration of eels.
Elvers migrate further upstream into rivers, lakes, and other freshwater bodies. They can travel considerable distances and what is fascinating about their journey is that they can leave the water and cross wet grass and mud fields. As they grow, elvers develop into yellow eels. The name comes from their yellow-brown colour. This stage can last anywhere from 6 to 20 years, but, depending on environmental conditions, even much longer. In this stage, the eel is feeding and growing in freshwater or coastal habitats.
They are nocturnal and feed on a wide variety of prey, including insects, small fish, and crustaceans. This is the stage where they historically would spend the longest period in the Baltic sea and rivers or lakes of Estonia. As eels reach maturity, they undergo another transformation into silver eels. They develop a silvery sheen, and their eyes enlarge, to adapt to the deep-sea environment. Silver eels migrate back to the Sargasso Sea to spawn. This journey can be thousands of kilometers long and take up to 12 months. It is a one-way trip, as they die after spawning.
While there have been lots of efforts to reproduce both American and the European eel in captivity, the completion of their lifecycle remains unsuccessful. It is also worth mentioning that the main reason for these attempts is capitalism and not conservation of the species.
The European eel is a critically endangered species. And needs much more action to make politicians make important and necessary decisions. And yes, even the giant panda is doing better, although it is not correct to compare animals and species like that. In my opinion the comparison is necessary here to make people realise how speciestic animal protection can be. Panda bears are cute, it is impossible to deny that. But people in Estonia for example consider the eel as a delicacy, not as an animal, as an individual, as an extraordinary and magical species. It might be difficult to understand if the message from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea is so clear, then why politicians ignore it.
The EU’s Eel Management Plan and other regional plans aim to improve eel populations through measures such as catch limits, protection of habitats, and reduction of migratory obstacles. The main “measure” of saving the eel is repopulation. But the survival rate of releasing glass eels into the waters where they would naturally already be yellow eels is extremely low. According to the local fishermen we talked to, the eels that are kept in aquaculture before releasing are even less likely to survive. So, The management plans clearly need a critical revision.
The population in the Baltic sea is still declining. Major factors are habitat loss, climate change and illegal fishing. Overall population of the eel has declined more than 90% in the last 50 years and Today’s population in Baltic waters is only 3% of the population in the 1970s! The 2020 European Commission Report report indicated that resettlement efforts, such as the introduction of glass eels into various habitats, have not significantly impacted conservation outcomes. This strongly suggests that simply adding eels to depleted areas does not address the underlying issues. The issues brought out include inadequate habitat conditions, persistent threats, and challenges in enforcement. The Swedish Fisheries Secretariat Report, which was released in 2024. questions whether the methods accurately measure the success of repopulation efforts and if they properly account for all relevant factors. The report also highlights the need for a thorough review of management plans to ensure they address the critical factors affecting eel populations, factors such as habitat loss, pollution, and illegal fishing.
The 2020 European Commission Report indicated that resettlement efforts, such as the introduction of glass eels into various habitats, have not significantly impacted conservation outcomes. This suggests that simply adding eels to depleted areas does not address the underlying issues affecting their populations. The issues brought out include inadequate habitat conditions, persistent threats, and challenges in enforcement. Swedish Fisheries Secretariat Report (2024) questions whether the methods accurately measure the success of repopulation efforts and if they properly account for all relevant factors. It also highlights the need for a thorough review of management plans to ensure they address the critical factors affecting eel populations, such as habitat loss, pollution, and illegal fishing.
One way to get the information about how many eels there are in the sea is to look at the number of fish being caught. The Eels caught in Estonian waters mainly come from inland waters, where they are relocated to as glass eels. About 10 years ago, the practice of releasing eels into the waters AFTER they had been farmed for a few years, was discontinued. This was due to the extremely low survival rate. From then on, glass eels are directly released from trucks. Around 1.2 million eels annually in Lake Võrtsjärv, which is the second biggest lake in Estonia. The peak in Baltic Sea fishing was around the turn of the century, but it’s been declining rapidly since. And in 2024, the fishing of eel in Estonian sea territory will be banned all year round! But since the glass eels released since 2014 have been growing and are becoming the legal size, the amount caught in the Narva river basin is increasing (57 tonnes in 2023).
The Eels caught in Estonian waters mainly come from inland waters, where they are relocated to as glass eels. About 10 years ago, the practice of releasing eels into the waters after they had been farmed for a few years, was discontinued, due to extremely low survival rate, and glass eels were directly released from trucks. Around 1.2 (or 1,3) million eels annually into Võrtsjärv lake. The peak in Baltic sea fishing was around the turn of the century, but it’s been declining rapidly since and in 2024, the fishing of eel in Estonian sea territory is banned all year round! But since the glass eels released since 2014 have been growing and are becoming the legal size (55cm), the amount caught in the Narva river basin is increasing (57.1 tonnes in 2023).
The recommendations for the management of fish in Estonian waters have been saying that the eel population in Estonian coastal seas has been depleted. So we really should not (!) continue our current course! At the moment the eel is not a protected species in Estonia. People eat them as delicacies and probably partly because the eel is not protected and also are not aware of the danger of the species. In Estonia there are two farms that are fattening the eels. There is also a festival celebrating eel consumption! Sadly. And the eels are raised and caught in Lake Võrtsjärv – these eels are all part of a critically endangered population.
European eel is considered to be a delicacy, so they are serving it often and in most prestigious events. It is extremely sad that if you have money, you can just eat one species to extinction. Before every election Loomus is sending the suggestions to politicians. This year there were European Parliament elections, and we presented 13 suggestions to politicians. One of them was that European eel must be taken under protection (“protecting eels must be done all together in Europe and the European Union to have hope that this species will not go extinct”)
The Glass eel recruitment index is probably the most important tool for measuring the state of the European eel population trends. It refers to the number of glass eels arriving into the European waters. In 2021, The index was only 5.5% from the baseline in the “Elsewhere Europe” region and Only 0.6% in the “Northern sea” region. These numbers clearly indicate that there is a chance we are going to see the extinction of this magnificent creature before we fully even understand their life! We don’t want to agree to that. We also believe that if together we manage to ban the fishing of the eel in Europe, we could significantly reduce the illegal market, which is currently a huge problem mainly due to eel fishing being legal at times and the line of legal/illegal being vague.
In Estonia it is easy – the repopulation to lake Võrtsjärv must be stopped, a fair transition plan must be created at the initiative of the ministry for the fisherman. And the fattening of eels in farms must be stopped. We urge every organisation in the region to campaign for the total ban of eel fishing! Especially activists from Spain, Portugal, France and UK, to get governments to ban the fishing of the glass eels and to introduce harsh penalties for illegal eel fishing!