Alien Eel ‘19437’ detected by Belgian LifeWatch acoustic receiver network
A silver eel from the dutch project ‘Ruim baan voor vissen’ was detected by the Belgian LifeWatch acoustic receiver network, approximately six weeks after being tagged at Delfzijl, northern Holland.
Within the framework of LifeWatch, one of the projects aims to investigate migration routes and behaviour of migratory fish, more specifically cod (Gadus morhua Linnaeus, 1758) and eel (Anguilla anguilla (Linnaeus, 1758)). The vast network of acoustic receivers in the Scheldt estuary and Belgian part of the North Sea allows researchers to detect fish provided with acoustic transmitters.
On December 2nd 2014, three of our receivers at the mouth of the Scheldt estuary detected a fish with an unknown ID. After a quick e-mail to the Netherlands, the unknown fish was identified. It seemed to be a silver eel from the project ‘Ruim baan voor vissen’ in the northern Netherlands. The fish was tagged on October 22nd at the Damsterdiep (between Groningen and Delfzijl). This was done in order to investigate the migratory behaviour of silver eel throughout the channel into the Wadden Sea.
The detection provides valuable information about the migration routes the silver eel take on their journey to the Sargasso Sea, approximately 6000km away. This finding confirms the need of a European Ocean Tracking Network. As such, fish can be tracked over larger distances and outside national borders. Especially for long distance migrating fish like eel, but also cod, salmonids, shads and shark species, such a network is of high valuable importance.
On December 2nd 2014, three of our receivers at the mouth of the Scheldt estuary detected a fish with an unknown ID. After a quick e-mail to the Netherlands, the unknown fish was identified. It seemed to be a silver eel from the project ‘Ruim baan voor vissen’ in the northern Netherlands. The fish was tagged on October 22nd at the Damsterdiep (between Groningen and Delfzijl). This was done in order to investigate the migratory behaviour of silver eel throughout the channel into the Wadden Sea.
The detection provides valuable information about the migration routes the silver eel take on their journey to the Sargasso Sea, approximately 6000km away. This finding confirms the need of a European Ocean Tracking Network. As such, fish can be tracked over larger distances and outside national borders. Especially for long distance migrating fish like eel, but also cod, salmonids, shads and shark species, such a network is of high valuable importance.
