Management plan to promote recovery of the European eel population

Management plan to promote recovery of European eel population in the Mediterranean. The future of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla), an iconic fish species, also much appreciated in Mediterranean cuisine, is currently at risk. But a management plan that includes a partial closure of eel fisheries each year, a complete ban on recreational eel fishing, and the setting-up of a monitoring network to identify effective management measures could help reverse the situation. Eels are critically endangered and face threats such as climate change, habitat loss, pollution and overfishing all along their migration routes, which originate in the Sargasso Sea and span a distribution range from the Mediterranean to northern Europe. In 2020, the migration of young European eel to freshwater habitats, a crucial stage in their lifecycle, reached an all-time low. The General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) ...