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// Lough eel numbers 'on the brink'

There are growing concerns about the future of the Lough Neagh eel fishery and the hundreds of jobs it supports. Lough Neagh is one of Europe's biggest waterways and its richest eel fishery. But something has gone terribly wrong. The millions of young eels, known as elvers, which normally return from the sea to this lake and other European waterways each spring, have failed to appear. Marine scientists are baffled and fishermen are worried.

The first sign of trouble came as far back as 1983, when the numbers of elvers returning from the Sargasso Sea near Bermuda suddenly crashed. From the usual 8 million young eels arriving back at the mouth of the River Bann near Coleraine, the number dropped to less than half a million. But no need to panic. While elver numbers entering the River Bann and making it up to Lough Neagh were down, elvers were still arriving in huge numbers in places like the Severn Estuary on Britain's south west coast. And supplying a few million elvers for Lough Neagh was not a problem. So it has been over the intervening years. But now the Severn is experiencing the sort of decline which hit Lough Neagh in 1983. Suddenly elvers are like gold dust - prices have shot up and all across Europe, fisheries are desperately competing for young eels. "If the elver recruitment does not recover or we don't get elvers from somewhere, then it will die," said Fr Oliver Kennedy of the Lough Neagh Fishermen's Co-operative. There has been concern too at European level which has resulted in the development of an eel recovery plan. But the scale of the decline in elver numbers in the Severn this spring has taken many people by surprise. And significantly, the root of the problem remains unclear. "It could be a combination of factors - ocean climate, global warming, feeding in the sea, perhaps they are not as fit when they leave with parasites and disease burdens - we really don't know, " said Marcus McAuley of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL). While marine scientists and biologists step up their research, the battle to secure dwindling elver supplies is hotting up. Eels have so far defied efforts to breed them in captivity. At European level, funding is being made available to help fisheries buy up scarce supplies of elvers. The government agrees with conservation groups that there should now be an export ban to stop precious elvers being exported as a delicacy to the far east. DCAL is now discussing the possibility of a financial package to help Lough Neagh fishermen with a restocking programme. While elver numbers in the Severn are down, Northern Ireland is reported to have managed to get around two tonnes of young eels from France. But if Europe's richest eel fishery is to remain viable, a consistent supply of elvers will be needed, not just this spring but every year. Published: 2010/03/09 07:53:15 GMT
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