Cockney delicacy jellied eels could be off the menu as global numbers have plummeted by 95 per cent in 40 years, UK’s Environment Agency warns
- 8,000 eels were recorded last year – a figure that’s down from 34,000 in 2016
- They’re faced with more than 1.3 million impassable river barriers across Europe
- The numbers have also been affected by removal of vegetation and urbanisation
Cockneys’ beloved jellied eels could be permanently off the menu as global numbers plummet.
Experts warn the slippery beasts could become extinct in our lifetime as global numbers have fallen by 95 per cent in just 40 years.
This means the traditional East End snack could no longer be served in Pie and Mash shops due to climate change, overfishing and blocked rivers.
The Environment Agency warned migrating eels in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex had dropped and the fish are finding it harder to negotiate waterways.
Cockney delicacy: Experts warn the slippery beasts – pictured here served in jelly – could become extinct in our lifetime as global numbers have fallen by 95 per cent in just 40 years
Eel counter Jez Wood counts them at a special ‘escalator’ in Norwich and says there were 26,000 fewer last year than 2016.
Just 8,000 were recorded – down from 34,000 in 2016 – and only 2,162 have been seen in 2019.
‘You have to credit the water companies – everybody’s working together to protect eels, but they’re also a key species – a lot of animals survive on eating eels, like bitterns, herons, otters,’ said Mr Wood.
‘It’s not an exaggeration to say they could disappear in our lifetime.’
David Bunt, director of conservation operations at the Sustainable Eel Group, said European eel numbers have declined since the Industrial Revolution and the creation of more dams, sluices, weirs and hydropower.
Eels are faced with more than 1.3 million impassable river barriers across Europe, he said.
‘They are an integral part of the freshwater ecology – and they are superb recyclers of nutrients – as well as of high commercial and economic value,’ he added.
Explanation: The Environment Agency warned migrating eels in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex had dropped and the fish are finding it harder to negotiate waterways
In a bid to improve numbers officials spent £50,000 on a ‘tunnel of love’ to help eels navigate their way up and down a complicated weir structure on an Essex river and find a mate.
The tunnel, known as an eel pass, will help the population to move up and down the River Colne.
Eels, or elvers, have a natural instinct to seek out fresh water, having started life in the sea, and when they encounter a barrier they attempt to migrate upstream via wet grass, leaks in structures and other sources of fresh water.
This has been hampered in recent years removal of vegetation and urbanisation.
