How partnerships help
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| American eels |
People like you and me. Organizations and governments. Community and conservation groups. Private citizens and generous corporate sponsors - all pitch in to help the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) protect and restore the biological diversity of the Great Lakes. It takes all of us working in close partnerships to make this happen under the umbrella of the Canada-Ontario Agreement Respecting the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem (COA).
Eel life history – amazing travellers
The American eel has only one spawning ground: the Sargasso Sea in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. At birth, young eels drift on ocean currents and naturally migrate into rivers, lakes and streams along the eastern coast of North America. Those making it up the St. Lawrence to Lake Ontario – all females – are among the largest and most productive of the species. They mature for 10 to 25 years before returning to the Sargasso Sea where they mate and then perish.
A long history as a fishery
The American eel was a popular food among First Nations people. Early immigrants to North America quickly discovered that eels were considered a delicacy in Europe and so they became a large export commodity as well as a food source for the new residents.
It wasn’t long before eels became an important commercial species in the eastern basin of Lake Ontario and the upper St. Lawrence River. At one point they comprised up to 50 per cent of local fisheries’ annual harvest, or more than half a million pounds a year until as late as 1978. This impact became unsustainable when reproduction didn’t match the catch. From the mid ‘90s until early in the present century, harvest steadily and seriously declined to less than 10 per cent of the peak yearly take.
The problems
Overfishing coupled with a maze of hydroelectric develpoment along the length of the eels’ migratory route contributed to the American eels’ decline. They are now on Ontario’s Endangered Species list. In 2004 eel fishing was banned in Ontario but the abundance of eels has not yet recovered. Climate change, development and agriculture have contributed to this lack by degrading eels’ habitats.
What’s being done today?
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| Measuring an American eel |
A multi-year, multi-faceted plan has been developed to restore the American eel to its native waters in eastern Lake Ontario, supported by MNR through COA. Among the most significant solutions has been the creation of major action plans by hydro-electric industries on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border to help the eels avoid dams and turbines. As well, commercial fisheries are cooperating by capturing eels and transporting them to facilities in Picton and Cornwall to be weighed measured and implanted with tags prior to release near Montreal. It is hoped that this will help the eels bypass hydro turbines during their return to the Atlantic. Migrating eels are also recaptured at points along the Gaspé Peninsula to learn more about their survival rates and ability to complete their life cycle.
Ministry staff have helped coordinate the skills of many partners willing to help restore the eel. Almost 4 million young eels have been released between Gananoque, Brockville and Belleville since 2006. Studies are being conducted to monitor the young eels’ growth and survival.
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| Alastair Mathers |
Alastair Mathers Lake Ontario COA Basin Coordinator says that public and hydro industry actions coupled with stocking “has had some encouraging results. The stocked eels are growing much more quickly than expected and can migrate throughout the system in spite of sometimes being transported thousands of miles by truck. As well, some progress is being made in helping maturing eels to reach their spawning grounds safely.”
It is clear that the assistance of the many partners and supporters along the migratory route of the American eel are critical to its recovery.
Key partners, sponsors and supporters in the recovery of the American eel
• Ontario Power Generation
• The Ontario Commercial Fisheries’ Association
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada
• Hydro Quebec
• Ressources Naturelle et Faune Quebec
• New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation
• New York’s Power Authority
• The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
