CCB Briefing – the facts about eel
CCB • October 29, 2017
What you need to know and understand about the eel, Anguilla anguilla
Facts about eel (Anguilla anguilla)
- There is only one single stock of European eel
- Eel is a commercial species under the CFP and MSY objective
- Eels grow very old making management extremely challenging. Example: old adult eels we see now can be the result of parents potentially born in the 1970s!
- Eel cannot be farmed, all eels in aquaculture etc are wild eels taken as juveniles
- we cannot “enhance” spawning by other means than securing an increase of out-migrating adult eels
- One eel saved in one river does not automatically mean a return of 100 more to same river – the eels may increase somewhere else.
Widespread exploitation of the critically endangered European eel population continues against scientific advice, despite few signs of recovery. Yesterday, the International Exploration of the Sea, ICES, published its scientific advice on fishing opportunities and conservation for European eel for 2026. As in previous years, ICES advises zero catch for all life stages, all uses and in all habitats. The conservation advice is to reduce other human-related mortalities to zero and restore habitats.
EU Council decision on 2026 fishing limits fails to implement legally required safeguards, jeopardising the fragile marine ecosystem