A Case for Accelerated Reestablishment of American Eel in the Lake Ontario and Champlain Watersheds

• Published in: Fisheries
• Main Authors: Busch, Wolf‐Dieter N., Braun, David P.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2014
• Subjects: Greenland; Lawrence River
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03632415.2014.923769; https://afspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/03632415.2014.923769

ABSTRACT The catadromous, panmictic American Eel ( Anguilla rostrata ) historically comprised nearly 25% of fish biomass in Atlantic coastal streams, supporting sizeable fisheries for centuries. However, the population has collapsed in its primary range. It is now proposed or listed as “endangered” by various North American governments, with its fisheries declared “depleted” along the U.S. Atlantic coast. The causes of decline include fragmented governance, loss of physical access to and/or degraded quality of freshwater habitats, lethal entrainment in hydroelectric turbines, changes in marine currents, and excessive harvest. Large gaps exist in knowledge of species biology and the effectiveness of management approaches. Prior to the collapse of eel production, the Lake Ontario and Champlain watersheds of the St. Lawrence River basin produced abundant, large, highly fecund female eels that contributed disproportionately to species‐wide reproduction. Abatement of key threats specifically across these two particular watersheds therefore could contribute significantly to range‐wide recovery from Greenland to Venezuela.