Hundreds of elvers found in Ouse fish pass

EELS are a critically-endangered species across Europe, so conservationists and anglers alike will be delighted at the discovery of hundreds of elvers last week in an eel pass on the River Great Ouse. 

An Environment Agency fisheries officer made the find during a routine check at Brownshill Staunch at St Ives, Cambs, and collected them in a bucket for observation before they were released back into the river soon afterwards.

Most of the elvers were around 60mm long, but a handful of more mature 30cm-long examples were among them.  

According to EA Fisheries Technical Specialist Kye Jerrom, eel passes are vital to the survival of the species on the Great Ouse.

“They allow elvers to swim around weirs and locks and migrate upstream in search of new habitat,” he says.

“The more rivers they can reach, the more the eels can be supported, so it’s a great way of conserving populations. Some of the eels that have used the Brownshill Staunch pass will be thinking about returning to the Sargasso Sea to spawn – that’s what our work is all about.”

Over the last 20 years the EA has built 38 eel and elver passes within the Great Ouse catchment area.

Hundreds of elvers from the pass, collected for study then released.