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Post by wnion on Jun 11, 2007 11:47:49 GMT -1
A powerful international conservation group looks set to add the eel to its list of threatened species.
European eel numbers are feared to be as low as one per cent of their population 30 years ago.
But European Union efforts to control fishing were foiled this year by French politicians, fearful of alienating eel fishermen before parliamentary elections.
Next week the signatories to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora will meet in The Hague to vote on a proposal to add the European eel to Appendix Two of its list of species.
It covers creatures which are not necessarily threatened with immediate extinction but may become so if further action is not taken.
Posted by PAC
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Post by Diawlbach on Jun 11, 2007 14:43:11 GMT -1
But European Union efforts to control fishing were foiled this year by French politicians, fearful of alienating eel fishermen before parliamentary elections. Yup, those French eel fishermen can topple a government with just the merest furrowing of their Gallic brows. Definitely a force to be reckoned with and a perfectly understandable reason for their politicians to block this mad cap conservation measure. |
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Post by JT on Jun 12, 2007 12:01:10 GMT -1
The French love any excuse to burn British sheep at our ports.
...mint sauce anyone?
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Post by wnion on Jun 15, 2007 19:52:58 GMT -1
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
UN votes to save the world's eels
Conservationists and anglers are celebrating tonight after delegates at a meeting of the United Nations' international wildlife convention CITES voted to include the eel on its endangered species list.
The move will tighten controls on international trade in the threatened fish. Experts say numbers have plummetted to just one per cebt of populations 30 years ago.
Once a species is listed on CITES, its trade can be banned completely in extreme cases, or only allowed if exporters can prove it was legally harvested and that trading it will not be detrimental to its survival in the wild.
Over fishing and demand from Japan, where the eel is a delicacy, have helped speed up their decline. Japanese diners eat up to 97,000 tonnes of eels a year.
These are netted live as glass eels or elvers in countries around the world, including British river estuaries, before being grown on to adult size.
Posted by PAC
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Post by clwydspecial on Jun 22, 2007 16:01:59 GMT -1
I just happened to come across this particular debate regarding eels and you have answered a question that has puzzled me now for the last few years "Where have all the eels gone" I remember 20 odd years ago when we used to carry out river maintenance that there were hundreds of eels in our river (Clwyd) now I very rarely seen any at all also where are the lampreys? They seem to have disappeared too, is this because of climate change or maybe its happening far out at sea?
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