Changing the end of eel fishing upsets fishermen

The annual fishing ban on eels is brought forward by one month. Now it will be forbidden to catch the critically endangered fish even during October.

“Up to 40 percent of the fishing will disappear,” says eel fisherman Hans-Inge”Hånsa” Olofsson.

Since 2018, a three-month fishing ban of eel has been introduced annually – following a decision by the EU’s Council of Ministers – in Swedish coastal areas. Previously, the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (Hav) has placed the ban during the period November-January, but now it is being brought forward by a month.

“We must completely implement the fishing ban when eel migration is at its highest and emigration through the Sound is at its highest during the months of October, November and December,” Jens Persson, an investigator at Hav, told Tidningarnas Telegrambyra [TT].

Wants to protect the eel

This comes after the Union’s fisheries ministers, at their meeting last December, clarified and tightened up the rules on the fishing of the endangered European eel. Medlemsländerna får själva välja när tremånadersstoppet ska råda, men det ska läggas under perioden augusti–februari.

– I första hand vill vi skydda den ål som vandrar genom Öresund och all ål i Östersjöområdet vandrar ut där. Den ål som klarat sig genom hela Östersjön har goda möjligheter att vandra vidare till lekområdena, utan att påverkas av annat fiske, säger Jens Persson.

– Tittar man på mängden ålyngel som kommer tillbaka till våra kuster är det historiskt sett väldigt låga nivåer. Man brukar säga att beståndet har minskat med 90–95 procent sedan 1970-talet, fortsätter Jens Persson.

Gäller inte sötvatten

Ålfisket är sedan länge hårt reglerat i Sverige. Sedan 2007 får endast yrkesfiskare med särskilt tillstånd fiska ål och sedan 2008 beviljas inga nya tillstånd. Under fjolåret landade svenska yrkesfiskare drygt 70 ton ål i kustområden. I inlandsvatten fångades 89 ton, men ålfisket i sötvatten omfattas inte av tremånadersstoppet.

“This shutdown will hit very the fishermen who fish eels around the Baltic coast and they have been affected to a fairly large extent by these decisions in previous years,” says Jens Persson.

Ålfiskaren Hans-Inge “Hånsa” Olofsson är kritisk till beslutet.

“We think it is unfair to such a country as Sweden. Nu drar de alla EU-länder över en kam, säger Olofsson till TT.

Olofsson framhåller att Sverige och landets ålfiskare har satt ut tusentals ton av ålyngel, som en del av den nationella ålförvaltningsplanen, för att stärka beståndet

“We have increased the export of spawning eels to the Sargasso Sea by almost 2,000 tonnes,” says the eel fisherman from Yngsjö on the east coast of Skåne.

Stort tapp

A lost fishing month in the fall will have a big impact.

“Up to 40 percent of the fishing will disappear now,” says Hans-Inge “Hånsa” Olofsson.

At the same time, fishing is not the only culprit in the drama. Large quantities of adult eels die annually in hydroelectric turbines.

“It is the overall impact that has an effect on the stock’s chances of recovery. Work has begun on a national review plan for hydropower where actually all hydropower plants will receive a retrial, they will be provided with new modern environmental conditions according to today’s environmental legislation. It is a work that will last 20-30 years to come,” says Jens Persson.