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June 2018 27 boatingonthehudson.com
Among them was a visitor from England who wanted to replicate the Eel project
in her home country as the European Eel’s numbers have been decimated to
ten per cent of its population. Unlike in America, eels are prized as culinary
delicacies in Europe and East Asia and with the Asian eel population also
severely compromised there is a huge and very profitable market for glass eels
from Europe. Eelers can “rake in “ $1500 to $2500 (£1100 to £1800) per pound.
These eels are shipped to Asia and raised in aquaculture ponds as there is no
known way of producing eel eggs in a laboratory. In the U.S. there are only two
states, North Carolina and Maine, that allow elver and glass eel fishing. On Cape
Cod authorities are on high alert for eel poachers coming down from Boston to
earn a few grand in this illegal and lucrative market. This why the eel population
in the tributaries need to be monitored.
The Hannacroix crew was ready for another catch as numerous as they had
had the day before. I was ready to see the elusive glass eel and, Holy Poseidon!,
did I see them. It took the team two and a half hours to count 3,557 eels, a mass
of slithering wormlike beasts. The eels were quite the hit and we showed them
to anyone who might be remotely interested. And they were. These eels were
deemed “cute”, “amazing”, “unbelievable.” This was a far cry from the word
association one would normally get from the word “eel.” A small success. These
are animals you would never see in your lifetime even in the largest and most
well stocked aquariums of the world. And they are right here in our backyard.
On Friday our trial week was up and we were going to remove the net. Gracie
and Aidan from DEC came up to do the deed. I felt we had failed, but wait! There
were herring in the kill and the temperature had risen to 48 degrees. There was
more! Gracie pointed out that the fyke net was coated with herring eggs and,
look around, the low tide exposed rocks and the creek bottom covered with
them, millions of eggs in a layer an inch thick! I had never seen such a sight
in my life. But the best thing of all – we caught a glass eel! One glass eel.
We were ecstatic. We considered keeping the net in for another week but the
students were in the midst of studying for finals and if we caught as many eels
as they had downriver we would be severely short handed.
We took the little guy or gal up the kill past the Poestenkill Gorge and set it
free above the dam near the cemetery. After such a long journey of so many
thousands of miles we gave this traveler a bit of a break, it wouldn’t have to
climb the falls. It was home free.
The great news is that Aidan thought we should continue to sample next year,
perhaps for the full extent of the run. That one little eel did the trick, I think. If we
do sample we’ll need all the help we can get. If you’re interested in sampling in
2019 please get in touch with the NATURE Lab, believe me, you will not regret
it and the “Creatures from the Sargasso Sea” will be better for it.
For information and data on the Eel Project go to and
search for “eel project”.
To become a volunteer eel counter on the Poestenkill go to
MEDIASANCTUARY.ORG and click on NATURE Lab.
For further reading:
“ Eels, an exploration, from New Zealand to the Sargasso, of the World’s Most
Mysterious Fish” by James Prosek; Harper/Collins
“Consider the Eel” by Richard Schweid; University of North Carolina Press.