Thames eels prove slippery customers
Eels, once a slippery mainstay of Cockney cuisine, appear to be abandoning the River Thames. Scientists from the Zoological Society of London have recorded a 98 percent drop in the number of European eels in the river in the past five years and say that triggers alarm bells for the future health of other Thames-dwelling species too.
Using eel traps placed along the river’s tributaries, the researchers counted just 50 eels last year, compared with 1,500 in 2005.
Scientists believe that European eels originate from the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic Ocean and can spend up to three years travelling to their designated waters in Europe. They remain in catchments, such as the Thames, for up to 20 years before they make their mammoth 6,500km return voyage back to the Sargasso Sea to spawn and die.
Matthew Gollock, ZSL’s Tidal Thames Conservation Project Manager, says: “Eels are mysterious creatures at the best of times but we are very concerned about the rapid disappearance of the species in the Thames.
“It’s difficult to say what is going on – it could be due to a number of potential factors including changes in oceanic currents due to climate change, man made structures such as dams and the presence of certain diseases and parasites.
“Other rivers in the UK are also seeing a European eel population decline – so it seems to be a worrying trend.”
European eels and flounder were the first two fish species to re-colonise the Thames River after the Estuary was considered biologically dead in the 1960s. Conservationists believe that any serious and rapid collapse of the eel population could have a knock on effect for other species in the river.
Matthew says: “Time appears to be running out for eels in the River Thames and this could have a domino effect on other species in the Thames.
“We need to understand why this decline is occurring so we can be in with a chance of saving this extraordinary animal.”
Thank you for your eel report