EU request for technical evaluation of the Eel Management Plan progress reports

ICES reviewed EU Member States’ (MSs) progress reports and highlights incomplete reporting, data gaps, and inconsistencies in the estimation of indicators, all of which continue to impede on the evaluation of the effectiveness of eel management plans (EMPs), management measures, and monitoring programmes for European eel (Anguilla anguilla). ICES advises that absolute values of indicators are not directly comparable and should be viewed with extra caution when considering progress toward the Eel Regulation target for silver eel escapement biomass in each eel management unit (EMU). ICES reiterates that common methodologies be applied among MSs and EMUs to estimate the indicators.

ICES advises that in most EMPs, escapement and mortalities are still far from the explicit or implicit EU regulation targets. There is no evidence that total escapement is increasing, and anthropogenic mortality remains high. The biomass escapement target was met or exceeded in only 22% of the reporting EMUs, and an increasing trend in escapement was only observed in four EMUs. ICES considers that the current low recruitment of eel limits the possibility of achieving the escapement target.

ICES notesprogress in reducing mortality, with 25% of the reporting EMUs showing a decreasing trend in fishing mortality and 29% displaying a significant decrease in mortality caused by factors other than fisheries. However, 23% of reporting EMUs still report fishing mortality above the threshold for total anthropogenic mortality, even in MSs in which escapement relies mainly on restocking, and the available evidence suggests that not all mortality caused by factors outside the fishery is accounted for and reported.

ICES reiterates its advice that all the sources of anthropogenic mortality, at all stages, should be zero, and that fishing for the purpose of restocking should not be allowed.

Most management measures (75%) were reported as fully or partially implemented. The effectiveness of most management measures could not be evaluated based on the available evidence. Only commercial and recreational fishery and certain hydropower and obstacles measures can be quantified as having direct measurable effects on eel mortality and escapement indicators. Given limited or no progress towards achieving the escapement target in the majority of EMUs, ICES is unable to identify which management measures are most effective. The current reporting and evaluation process is not yet appropriate to assess the effectiveness of most management measures for reducing non-fisheries mortalities.

ICES highlights that the use of small eel is not well documented. A transnational traceability system accounting for imports and exports in each MS could improve the tracking of glass eels and their uses, from capture to their final destination.

ICES provides a suite of suggestions to improve reporting, measuring progress, and setting targets.