http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-11454375It is interesting to see that eel-fishing has now been banned in the UK. It is not before time, because not only has the population plummeted, but nobody has any realistic explanation for it. Eels have been of economic importance to humankind for thousands of years, and it is embarrasing quite how little we know about them.
Our experiments in eel-keeping were pretty unsuccesful with the last of six eels dying a few weeks ago. But even our attempts at anguilla husbandry opened enough cans of worms to make it perfectly obvious that more research is needed NOW!
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The nematode found in eels swim bladders -Anguillicola - has been known about and studied for decades. There is a paper from 1986 here -
www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/138864.pdf
Symptoms include thickening of the swim bladder wall and filling up with nematodes themselves, neither of which is fatal until the the eel makes its first deep dive on its spawning migration.
This failure to migrate to the spawning grounds is probably a major cause of the population decline.
With the continuing massive change in London's ethnic make-up and diet, could it be that the Eels have now realised that they don't need to breed at such a high rate, to supply the Jellied eel market.
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