Abstract
Abstract Young eel, recruiting from the ocean towards Europe, are most abundant along the Atlantic coast of France. Since 1840, attempts have been made to redistribute them from the areas of highest abundance to other countries and farther inland. This 'restocking' has been troubled by technical constraints (e.g. mode of transport and maximum distance eel can be shipped alive), wars (e.g. the Franco-Prussian War and World Wars One and Two) and, in recent decades, by shortage of supply due to the general decline of the eel stock all across Europe. Though objectives and procedures have changed considerably over the years, the recurring aim has been to increase production and, in that way, to 'faire mieux que la nature'. We document the historical development of these efforts from their inception, and contrast the achievements to the objectives. Except for the 1952-1990 period in Eastern Europe, restocking has probably added only slightly to the natural production. As successful as restocking might have been locally, it has not markedly changed the overall trends and distribution patterns or halted the general decline of the stock and fishery. Poor post-evaluation, frequent technical innovation and a constant renewal of the countries and people involved have kept the promise of a better future alive for 175 years.
Highlights
Just one single fish species is exploited in all countries of Europe, and Europe is currently struggling to develop a common policy for protecting this shared resource – that fish is the European eel, Anguilla anguilla (L.)
Over the last two centuries, the peculiar biology of the eel, technical developments and political constraints have resulted in the alternation of cooperation and animosity between European countries regarding the development of their eel fisheries
We found no evidence of Huningue sending glass eel abroad, though delivery of their salmon stock to Germany and Switzerland indicates that contacts were cooperative
Summary
Just one single fish species is exploited in all countries of Europe, and Europe is currently struggling to develop a common policy for protecting this shared resource – that fish is the European eel, Anguilla anguilla (L.). A parallel effort to redistribute natural-born young eel (‘glass eel’) was attempted instead, transporting them from areas of highest abundance (primarily French river mouths) to under-populated waters all over Europe. This redistribution has become commonly known as ‘stocking’ or ‘restocking’ (i.e. repeuplement, Aussetzung, Besatz, uitzet, utsättning, udsætning, ripopolamenti, zarybianiu and посадочный). The European eel is found and exploited in fresh, brackish and coastal waters throughout most of Europe (though in the Black Sea area, natural occurrence is doubtful) and along the Mediterranean coasts of Africa and Asia This wide distribution area, is effectively fragmented among thousands of river catchments, with little or no natural interaction between them. Restore national stocks to sustainable levels, to their historical abundance, and restocking is one tool for accomplishing this.
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