Breeding native eels

[livingart]

for those interested an article on the first breeding of eels in nz

http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/bre ... n_eel.html

[Olly]

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: Thats awesome! :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[Stella]

I suspect that article is quite old.

They can get billions of larvae but they can't get them past 14 days (ie past the yolk-sac stage).

Another interesting thing that has come out of this is that they have got their post-spawning eels to feed again (in the wild they die, presumably).

Eels are on very shaky ground right now: longfins are being pushed to extinction by commercial fishing and shortfins are following close behind.

Some might see this as a way of helping BUT we won't know for many decades if the resulting eels can breed naturally (and there are MANY levels of complication with this one, you don't just put two eels in a bag).

By that stage eels will probably be extinct in NZ anyway.

And the point of this research is to get glass eels. That will have no effect on the demand for 'real' eel meat, so it won't be a way of 'farming' eels to reduce pressure on wild stocks. There is no glass eel fishery in NZ (there simply aren't enough anywhere) and to grow the tiddlers up to eating size will take decades.

Awesome stuff indeed, but significant practical issues both commercially and conservation-ly.

[jasus_edwardsii]

I done some of my aquaculture studies at mti.Very nice bunch of people.

I leared so much..The team there also do alot of work with all our natives including koura...

Have the best collection i have ever seen