The European eel population is in “collapse” due primarily to overfishing, the U.K.’s Guardian newspaper warned this week.
“Eels are critically endangered, and conservation groups and scientists have argued that all EU eel fisheries should be closed, to allow populations space to recover,” the Guardian, Britain’s flagship newspaper for climate alarmism, noted.
Eels are under threat not only from overfishing, but also from the obstruction of waterways and pollution, the article contended while highlighting eels’ “vital role in marine and freshwater ecosystems, where they are prey for many other fish species and birds.”
The Guardian cites Jenni Grossmann, fisheries science and policy adviser at ClientEarth, who recently declared that the E.U.’s “science-defying reluctance to close all eel fisheries might well turn out to be the final nail in the coffin of this critically endangered species.”
“Every year, fisheries ministers ignore increasingly dire warnings, set excessive quotas, experts react with dismay, and the cycle begins again next December,” Grossman lamented.
“The longer they do this, the more stocks will end up classed as vulnerable, endangered or worse – it’s not rocket science,” she added. “This year, the timing is particularly poignant: all this flies in the face of leaders’ proclaimed ambitions to protect biodiversity at Cop15 this week.”
Nevertheless, Virginijus Sinkevičius, E.U. commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, defended the eel-fishing quotas set by the E.U., insisting the decisions “show that the EU is at the forefront of sustainable fisheries management.”
“By agreeing to set fishing opportunities in line with the scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), we continue our efforts to manage our stocks at healthy levels,” Sinkevičius said.
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