EU eel fishing derogations met with concern by environmental NGOs

While a new EU regulation has – on paper – banned the capture of the endangered species for at least six months this year, environmental NGOs have argued that derogations have created considerable loopholes in the law.

Read the original article in French here.

In 2018, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed eels as “critically endangered” due to human activities. As such, in 2024, a six-month fishing ban is in place to protect the species during sensitive migration periods between European rivers and the Sargasso Sea in the Bahamas.

However, “in view of the potentially serious socio-economic consequences” of halting fishing during migration periods, EU countries will still be able to continue fishing “for 30 days during these periods”, the new regulation, published on 10 January, states.

According to the rules, EU countries must declare to the Commission the periods during which fishing will cease before 1 March 2024. The regulation also bans all recreational fishing for eels.

The ban came under fire from stakeholders. “The fishing restrictions are extremely restrictive and illegitimate” because they “have not been scientifically evaluated”, Olivier le Nezet, chairman of the French National Fisheries Committee, told Ouest-France.

Derogations

According to the new rules, member states may also allow an additional 50 days for glass eel fishing, exclusively for restocking purposes, during the main migration period of glass eel.

As dams and the discontinuity of watercourses can create insurmountable obstacles for the fish to swim upstream, restocking allows for the catching of glass eels to reintroduce them to upstream rivers.

However, according to the environmental group Ethic Ocean, this process lacks transparency and traceability, with no guarantee that the eels are actually reintroduced in the environment.

“According to [International Council for the Exploration of the Sea] ICES scientists, it is impossible to measure the net benefits of eel stocks. Worse still, there is no traceability to guarantee that glass eels shipped to European countries actually end up in rivers,” the NGO said in a press release.

The results of restocking are far from proven and may even “further jeopardise the survival of this critically endangered species”, it added.

Adding the 50-day restocking measure to the 30-day derogation, the NGO slammed that “glass eels can be fished for 80 days… almost three months out of the six in which they are supposed to be protected!”

At the same time, international NGO Oceana said it was saddened by the EU “giving the green light to reckless overfishing of sensitive species” such as the “critically endangered eel, putting their future at risk”.

In September, several groups called on the EU to consider the latest scientific findings from the ICES when deciding on the 2024 ban, which point to “zero catches at all life stages and in all habitats, including eels used for restocking and aquaculture”.

Repopulating the species

A recent report by the European Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries (PECH) concedes that although there may be positive effects at local levels, “the contribution of restocking to stock recovery at an international level cannot be ascertained”.

However, according to ARA France, the French eel restocking association, which brings together several professional fishing associations, restocking is an effective “emergency measure” until fundamental problems such as water pollution are resolved.

Given these uncertainties and pending more detailed assessments, ICES recommended that the Commission ban catches for restocking purposes.

“It is also regrettable that the issues of water quality and other anthropogenic mortalities have still not been addressed,” stresses the Ethic Ocean association.

Glass eel fishing can continue, despite Commission's opposition

EU fisheries ministers have decided to maintain glass eel fishing for 2023, in a decision that has been welcomed by the industry but goes against calls from the European Commission and environmental organisations to ban the practice.

[Edited by Angelo Di Mambro and Nathalie Weatherald]

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