{"id":768,"date":"2016-04-24T13:05:31","date_gmt":"2016-04-24T17:05:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/practiceconservation.com\/?p=768"},"modified":"2016-04-23T13:05:45","modified_gmt":"2016-04-23T17:05:45","slug":"giving-eels-a-leg-to-stand-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/practiceconservation.com\/?p=768","title":{"rendered":"Giving eels a leg to stand on"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Over the past week, I\u2019ve looked for ways for us to get directly involved with eel conservation- the good news is that those opportunities are out there; the bad news is that it took some searching to find everything I mention here, so it takes persistence to get involved. Of course, it also takes persistence to swim from rivers to the open ocean\u2026<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_769\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/practiceconservation.com\/?attachment_id=769\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-769\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-769\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-769\" src=\"http:\/\/practiceconservation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/9725482559_0239452ba7_z-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"USFWS monitoring American eels in Buffalo Creek, Pa. Photo courtesy of USFWS- License Link\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/practiceconservation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/9725482559_0239452ba7_z-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/practiceconservation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/9725482559_0239452ba7_z.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-769\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">USFWS monitoring American eels in Buffalo Creek, Pa. Photo courtesy of USFWS- <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/2.0\/\" target=\"_blank\">License Link<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p>The timing is ideal to get involved in many of the opportunities out there since <a href=\"http:\/\/www.worldfishmigrationday.com\/events\" target=\"_blank\">World Fish Migration Day<\/a> is May 21, 2016- there are events taking place all over the world from now until the actual day, so check the list and see if there is something near you.<\/p>\n<p>If you are looking for more information about eel projects<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sustainableeelgroup.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Sustainable Eel Group<\/a> has articles on European eels organized by topic and country<\/li>\n<li>Canadian Wildlife Federation has a <a href=\"http:\/\/cwf-fcf.org\/en\/do-something\/challenges-projects\/help-the-eels\/?src=wildlifewishes\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cHelp the Eels\u201d<\/a> project<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.waterkeeper.ca\/case-american-eel\/\" target=\"_blank\">Lake Ontario Waterkeepers<\/a> have a campaign to increase the protection given to eels<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.mcsuk.org\/support_mcs\/Get+involved\/30+species\/30+species+-+Eel\" target=\"_blank\">Marine Conservation Society<\/a> has a campaign to protect more marine areas used by eel larva<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There are a number of habitat restoration projects that benefit eels- many of these projects are organized by local groups, so, if your area isn\u2019t mentioned here, it may pay off to ask around-<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/harwichconservationtrust.org\/hct-helps-to-complete-eel-migration\/\" target=\"_blank\">Harwich Conservation Trust<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gulfofmaine.org\/council\/publications\/american_eel_high-res.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk\/about-the-trust\/who-we-are\/\" target=\"_blank\">Scottish Wildlife Trust<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.somersetwildlife.org\/article302.html\" target=\"_blank\">Somerset Wildlife Trust<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And there are a number of groups looking for your help in eel surveys<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>the WCS <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wcs.org\/our-work\/regions\/new-york-seascape\" target=\"_blank\">New York Seascape Program<\/a> is working with eel populations in the Bronx River<\/li>\n<li>the <a href=\"http:\/\/lbla.net\/?page_id=244\" target=\"_blank\">Ridean Valley Conservation Authority<\/a> would like you to submit eel observations<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/wrt.org.uk\/glass-eel-citizen-science-project\/\" target=\"_blank\">Westcountry Rivers Trust<\/a> wants your help counting glass eels<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.zsl.org\/conservation\/regions\/uk-europe\/eel-conservation\" target=\"_blank\">Zoological Society of London<\/a> is monitoring eels in the Thames River<\/li>\n<li>there is also an <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dec.ny.gov\/lands\/49580.html\" target=\"_blank\">American eel project in the tributaries of the Hudson River<\/a> that involves the NY Department of Environmental Conservation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I\u2019ve said it before, but please, please, please do your best to choose sustainable seafood for your meals- in this context, it means eel is a no-no (and that\u2019s a sacrifice for me), but having learned about eel conservation over the last few weeks, I believe it is the right thing to do. If you are unsure about your seafood choices, there are a number of resources, for example <a href=\"http:\/\/www.seafoodwatch.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Seafood Watch<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Eels, and other aquatic animals, are having a rough time- we can help support the remaining populations, but it will take a variety of approaches, including increased protection, habitat restoration, and people deciding that sustainable seafood is important to them. If all of us contribute to these efforts, we can really make a difference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over the past week, I\u2019ve looked for ways for us to get directly involved with eel conservation- the good news is that those opportunities are out there; the bad news is that it took some searching to find everything I mention here, so it takes persistence to get involved. Of course, it also takes persistence [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[22,21],"tags":[95,20,179,83,25,11,122,24],"class_list":["post-768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-food-choices","category-marine-ecosystems","tag-aquatic-systems","tag-conservation","tag-eels","tag-endangered-species","tag-fisheries","tag-get-involved","tag-habitat-fragmentation","tag-seafood"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/practiceconservation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/practiceconservation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/practiceconservation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/practiceconservation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/practiceconservation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=768"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/practiceconservation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":772,"href":"https:\/\/practiceconservation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768\/revisions\/772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/practiceconservation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/practiceconservation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/practiceconservation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}