What can be done?

• The Commissioner’s 2013 report concluded on the weight of evidence that longfin eels are a species in trouble. There are things that can be done to improve eel habitat and assist their passage along rivers. But these take time and some, such as removing hydro dams that kill mature eels on their way out to sea to breed, will not happen.

  The only thing that can make a difference quickly is to reduce the pressure from fishing. The Commissioner recommended that commercial fishing should be suspended until evidence shows that longfin eels have recovered to a sustainable level.