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Angling: Anglers can do their bit to halt decline of the eel
Martin Salter MP.
I have mentioned on more than one occasion the decline of the eel population, not only in this country but also in most of Europe.
Unfortunately, this fish is seen as a delicacy with some people, mostly on the Continent and the population has fallen rapidly in the last 10 years with some experts proclaiming that the stocks are over 90 per cent down in that period – and still falling.
Although they have not yet been put on the banned list, anglers in this country have been requested to be very careful how the fish are handled and to return them to the water so they can breed again.
There have been calls for years to ban the commercial trapping and netting of elvers (young eels) for these are still being removed in their thousands every year from venues such as the Lower Severn in Worcestershire.
Many experiments to determine the eel population have been carried out in this country, mostly with little success. For instance a recent study carried out by the Zoological Society of London at several locations on the Thames as well as some minor rivers in the South failed to produce any elver at all in the past year.
Their research started in zoos and they estimate that the catch rate of eels had fallen by 99 per cent at some of the monitored sites. experts reckon that it is going to take decades for the fish to return to their natural numbers.
● We do not seem to have many people in Parliament batting on the anglers’ side but during the last Government we always had Labour MP Martin Salter and he was truly a champion on our behalf.
Unfortunately before the last election and after many years of service, he decided that it was time to retire from the political scene after 13 years and with him doing so angling lost its voice.
Salter was an ordinary MP and has been a lifelong angler, chairing the All Party Committee on Angling until his retirement.
The good news is that those many years of experience will not go to waste for his talents have been snapped up by the Angling Trust.
he is taking up the post of national campaigns co-ordinator with immediate effect.
Salter is a natural campaigner for he was the man who proposed and passed some of the best legislation in recent years to protect our fish and fishing and will prove a great acquisition for the Trust.
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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