State of Freshwater Eels in the South Pacific
Journal Title: Advances in Oceanography & Marine Biology (AOMB) - Year 2018, Vol 1, Issue 1
Abstract
Freshwater eels of the genus Anguilla consists of 16 species and 3 subspecies that are distributed in the Indo-Pacific and North Atlantic Ocean. They are consumed as delicacies throughout their dispersal range especially in Japan, Europe and the Americas. With growing demand for eels on the international market the three major species currently cultured in the aquaculture industry, Japanese eels A. japonica, European eel A. anguilla and American eel A. rostrata have all been severely overfished with populations on the brink of extinction. This has resulted in an increased interest from Southeast Asian eel aquaculturists in procuring anguillid glass eels and elvers from the South Pacific which is the last frontier for eel stocks. But with little or no knowledge of inshore migration mechanisms, seasonality or abundance of glass eels in the South Pacific region there is a grave risk of overexploitation.
Authors and Affiliations
Anushka Hewavitharane
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP601042
- DOI 10.33552/AOMB.2018.01.000501
- Views 62
- Downloads 0
State of Freshwater Eels in the South Pacific
Freshwater eels of the genus Anguilla consists of 16 species and 3 subspecies that are distributed in the Indo-Pacific and North Atlantic Ocean. They are consumed as delicacies throughout their dispersal range especially...