All the way from the Sargasso Sea – this year’s glass eels have arrived into the Lower River Shannon in Limerick City! We recorded glass eels in kick samples taken during early January 2017 in […]
Expert advice on glass eel, elver, yellow eel and silver eel management issues
Author: Dr. Will O'Connor
Dead and dying silver eels downstream of Ardnacrusha
The European eel is a critically endangered species. However, thousands are killed passing Ardnacrusha hydroelectric station on the Lower River Shannon each year, despite a ‘trap and transport’ scheme operated by the ESB. This is a […]
Elvers running at Ennistymon Falls, June 2016.
Elvers running at Ennistymon Falls during early June 2016. This is a difficult obstacle for #eels. There is a salmon pass in the middle of the falls and during low flows all the water is […]
Elver run at Ardnacrusha, June 2016
Critically endangered juvenile #eels trying to find a way upstream at Ardnacrusha hydro station on the Lower River Shannon, June 2016. Elvers can’t find this trap/pass. The spillway beside this trap is far more attractive […]
Ireland’s Eel Management Plan – a poor deal for eels
Ireland’s Eel Management Plan – a poor deal for eels. Action 3a: Castletown Weir 2015. This is the new rock ramp fish pass at Castletown Weir on the River Nore. This provides a local improvement […]
As few as 2% of elvers may pass Shannon dams
It has recently been reported by Ireland’s independent scientific committee on salmon that the numbers of Annex II listed Atlantic salmon passing the dams on the River Shannon is less than 5% of the conservation […]
Monitoring silver eel turbine passage mortalities on the Lower Shannon
We are currently assessing silver eel turbine passage mortality at Ardnacrusha hydroelectric station on the Lower River Shannon. Silver eels are adult maturing eels on their spawning migration to the Sargasso Sea after spending up to 20 years (or […]
Genetic analysis of the American eel helps explain its decline
An interesting paper entitled ‘RAD Sequencing Highlights Polygenic Discrimination of Habitat Ecotypes in the Panmictic American Eel‘ was recently published in the journal Current Biology by Scott A. Pavey et al. (2015). This study has found that there are differences […]
Historical data to plan the recovery of the European eel
A new interesting paper has been accepted by the Journal of Applied Ecology entitled ‘Historical data to plan the recovery of the European eel‘. The authors are Miguel Clavero and Virgilio Hermoso who use historical sources to reconstruct the historical […]
Salmon counters – unnecessary eel migration barriers?
Instead of opening up migration pathways for eels (and lampreys) in Ireland, our state agency Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) are, themselves, a major threat to eel and lamprey populations. In 2013 IFI installed this crump […]
European Eel Foundation 