The BALTEEL-RECO project will focus on promoting a coordinated approach across the borders for recovery of the eel in the Baltic Sea region.
The European eel population has declined dramatically since the 1970s. Today, the size of the population is 1-10 per cent of previous levels. BALTEEL-RECO notes that many factors have contributed to this decline. For example, changes in marine environments, pollution, parasites, over-fishing and migration barriers. Despite joint efforts, such as the EU’s recovery plan and national management plans, the eel population shows no signs of recovery. BALTEEL-RECO suggests that there is a lack of both regional coherence in recovery efforts due to EU regulations, and of transparency from eel management plants due to language barriers and data deficiencies.
The project wants to promote a coordinated approach to eel recovery in the Baltic Sea region. For this purpose, it will analyse the effectiveness of national eel management plans and restocking practices. It also wants to create a regional network of stakeholders. The goal is to involve at least one organization in each Baltic country. The main activities will be to translate, analyse and discuss national eel management plans, and to collect and analyse restocking practices in the Baltic Sea region. BALTEEL-RECO plans to work with the fishing sector to explore alternatives to eel fishing, and to collaborate with eel scientists.