AFBI Research on Lough Neagh helps unlock the secrets of eel breeding

A Danish research group working in association with the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) and the Lough Neagh Fishermen’s Co-operative (LNFCS) are to use Lough Neagh eels in breeding trials in an attempt to complete the full European eel life cycle in captivity for the first time.

The European eel is one of our most enigmatic fish species, with its very existence linked in folklore to our patron Saint, Patrick. Yet, incredibly in the 21st century much of the eel’s life history continues to be shrouded in mystery and its very reproduction and breeding areas still remain the subject of conjecture and theory.  Strangely for a fish so important and widespread in fresh waters from North Africa to Norway, their spawning event has never been directly observed.  Even the breeding  site, presumed to be in the Sargasso Sea just North of the Bermuda triangle, is only inferred from the first appearance of larvae in the ocean. From there the larvae migrate across the Atlantic to Europe and enter rivers and lakes in spring as tiny transparent “glass” eels and “elvers”.

The Lough Neagh fishery based at Toomebridge is Europe’s largest commercial wild eel fishery, worth £3.2 million to the local economy and producing 16% of Europe’s wild eel catch. In the face of continuing low supply of wild juvenile eel from the ocean to Lough Neagh,  Lough Neagh’s commercial future is supported by funding from DCAL and the EU towards the purchase of juvenile “glass” eels from areas around Europe where they are still abundant.

No-one has yet managed to complete the life cycle of European eels in captivity.  Some European eel populations accumulate contaminants at levels which could be one of a number of factors hampering reproduction. Therefore, eel of the highest quality from clean environments are needed as source material for breeding experiments.  Lough Neagh eels, which grow in a clean, non industrial environment are free of these contaminants.

Following on from recent successes in the European “PRO-EEL” Project (www.pro-eel.eu), the Danish National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark (DTU AQUA) , has started a new “EEL-HATCH” project together with industry partners and has built new breeding and hatching facilities dedicated to eel. Lough Neagh is one of very few sites in Europe able to supply the contaminant free wild male and female broodstock required to run their experiments.

Other Notes

The Lough Neagh Fishermen’s Co-operative Society (LNFCS) actively funds targeted scientific research aimed at understanding eel populations and fostering a sustainable commercial future for the eel.  Currently LNFCS sponsor a Queen’s University of Belfast PhD student based in the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute for Northern Ireland (AFBI), investigating the biology of the male eel. The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, Inland fisheries and waterways Branch, fund eel stock assessment scientists in AFBI who advise Northern Ireland, the UK and European interests on sustainable management of eel and assess compliance with EU eel fishing regulations designed to re-build eel stocks.

The project EEL-HATCH (www.eel-hatch.dk), being financially supported by Innovation Fund Denmark, is coordinated by the Technical University of Denmark and includes six industrial partners related to the aquaculture industry. The overall vision of the EEL-HATCH consortium is to establish breeding and hatchery technology for future commercial production of glass eels.

Chairman of Lough Neagh Fishermen’s Co-operative Society, Pat Close, has welcomed the opportunity to contribute to the project.  ‘We see this as an excellent opportunity to progress our understanding of the European eel and this work underlines our long-standing commitment to thorough scientific research as the basis for establishing a sustainable future for the industry.  This project together with the specific study of the male eel and on-going research at AFBI’s Veterinary Sciences Laboratories on the health status of Lough Neagh eel, a programme supported by the Co-operative and InvestNI, will help us to find a way forward’. Chief Fisheries Officer for DCAL, Seamus Connor, echoed the sentiments of the LNFCS and said that ”DCAL were delighted that the quality of both eels and eel science from Lough Neagh commanded such recognition and were pleased to support the work being taken forward”.

Notes to editors: 

AFBI carries out high quality technology research and development, statutory, analytical, and diagnostic testing functions for DARD and other Government departments, public bodies and commercial companies.

AFBI's Vision is “Scientific excellence in Northern Ireland … serving the world”.
 

All media enquiries to AFBI Press Office.

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