Eel fishing
The Environment Agency issues annual licences for eel fishing in
England and Wales. At present, there is no legislative mechanism to
limit the number of licences issued. All life stages of eel
are exploited in England and Wales and about 1,000 eel fishermen
are licensed. These licenses are for single EA regions and
are not transferable other than where estuaries are shared by more
than one region (e.g. the Thames Estuary). Legislation for
eel fisheries management is enacted through national and local
byelaws. The National Eel Byelaws, which were confirmed in 2004,
specify legal fishing gears and their method of operation, where
these gears can be fished, maximum mesh sizes and minimum landing
sizes.
The main fisheries for small eel (<100 mm, known as glass
eels or elvers) are by dip-nets in estuaries draining into the
Bristol Channel, in particular the Rivers Severn, Wye and Parrett,
and in smaller fisheries such as that in Morecambe Bay,
Cumbria. The main fisheries for yellow and silver eel are in
southern and eastern England, with fyke nets or fixed traps.
Distribution of
eel fisheries throughout England and Wales. Proportional size pie
charts represent the number of each instrument type used in each
WFD River Basin District