Abundance and Growth of the European Eels (Anguilla anguilla Linnaeus, 1758) in Small Estuarine Habitats from the Eastern English Channel

• Published in: Fishes
• Main Authors: Denis, Jérémy, Mahé, Kélig, Amara, Rachid
• Other Authors: Laboratoire d’Océanologie et de Géosciences (LOG) - UMR 8187 (LOG), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale (ULCO)-Université de Lille-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Nord ), Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale (ULCO), Laboratoire Ressources Halieutiques de Boulogne (LRHBL), Unité Halieutique Manche Mer du Nord (HMMN), Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER), Parc Naturel Marins des Estuaires Picards et de la Mer d’Opale (DECISION N°2018-28 9 March 2018), European Maritime Fisheries Fund (PFEA621220CR0310022), Région Hauts de France (PFEA621220CR0310022), European Union (ERDF), the French Government, the Région Hauts-de-France and IFREMER, in the framework of the project CPER MARCO 2015–2020 (https://marco.univlittoral.fr/)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2022
• Subjects: length–frequency distribution; age; sex-ratio; hydro-morpho-sedimentary characteristics; [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]; Anguilla anguilla
• Online Access: https://ulco.hal.science/hal-04058418; https://ulco.hal.science/hal-04058418/document; https://ulco.hal.science/hal-04058418/file/fishes-07-00213-v2.pdf; https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes7050213

International audience Abundance and growth of the European eel from six small northern French estuaries during their growth phase were examined to explore variations according to the local habitat characteristics. The length–weight relationships and growth models fitted to length-at-age back-calculated otolith growth increments were used to compare the growth. Higher abundances were observed in the smaller estuaries (2.4 to 10.5 ind. fyke nets 24 h−1). The eel length ranged from 215–924 mm with an age range of 4–21 years. There was no significant difference in fish eel lengths or age except in the Liane estuary where the individuals were larger. The length–weight relationships showed an isometric or positive allometric growth in most estuaries. The Gompertz growth models, which best fits the growth, showed no significant differences between estuaries except for female eels from the Liane and the Somme estuaries where the growth performance index was higher. The estimated annual growth rate varied from 2.7 to 115.0 mm·yr−1 for female and from 4.4 to 90.5 mm·yr−1 for male. The present study shows that eels in the six estuaries had CPUE and growth rates similar to those previously reported in larger habitats. These results reinforce the idea that small estuaries are important habitats that contribute significantly to the eel population and, therefore, play an essential role in conservation strategies for European eel.