Report of the Workshop on Designing an Eel Data Call (WKEELDATA)

A Workshop on Designing an Eel Data Call (WKEELDATA), (chaired by: Caroline Durif, Norway), met in Rennes, France, from 28 February to 2 March 2017 to plan a data call that is to be sent to all countries having natural production of European eel.The workshop follows a need to standardize data reporting, increase its coverage, and improve data quality. A data call will ensure a more consistent and systematic approach to data reporting.European eel life cycle is complex with a unique spawning area in the Sargasso Sea but growth areas widely distributed across Europe. The stock is genetically panmictic but the continental eel stock shows strong local and regional differences in popula-tion dynamics and local stock structures (sex ratio, length and age distributions). Da-ta are reported to the Working Group on Eel (WGEEL), which generates the advice. Data correspond to several different life stages, from juveniles to prespawning eels, caught with various fishing gears in different habitats (from freshwater to saltwater environments). Local impacts by fisheries may vary from almost nil to heavy overex-ploitation. Other forms of anthropogenic mortality (e.g. hydropower, pumping sta-tions) also impact on eel and vary in distribution and local relevance.