Management and Fisheries of Australasian Eels (Anguilla australis, Anguilla dieffenbachii, Anguilla reinhardtii)

2016 ◽  
pp. 274-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald Jellyman
PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e12157
Author(s):  
Georgia Thomson-Laing ◽  
Russleigh Parai ◽  
Laura T. Kelly ◽  
Xavier Pochon ◽  
Rewi Newnham ◽  
...  

Freshwater eels are ecologically, and culturally important worldwide. The New Zealand long-finned eel (Anguilla dieffenbachii) and short-finned eel (Anguilla australis) are apex predators, playing an important role in ecosystem functioning of rivers and lakes. Recently, there has been a national decline in their populations due to habitat destruction and commercial harvest. The emergence of targeted environmental DNA detection methodologies provides an opportunity to enhance information about their past and present distributions. In this study we successfully developed species-specific droplet digital Polymerase Chain Reaction (ddPCR) assays to detect A. dieffenbachii and A. australis DNA in water and sediment samples. Assays utilized primers and probes designed for regions of the mitochondrial cytochrome b and 16S ribosomal RNA genes in A. dieffenbachii and A. australis, respectively. River water samples (n = 27) were analyzed using metabarcoding of fish taxa and were compared with the ddPCR assays. The presence of A. dieffenbachii and A. australis DNA was detected in a greater number of water samples using ddPCR in comparison to metabarcoding. There was a strong and positive correlation between gene copies (ddPCR analyses) and relative eel sequence reads (metabarcoding analyses) when compared to eel biomass. These ddPCR assays provide a new method for assessing spatial distributions of A. dieffenbachii and A. australis in a range of environments and sample types.


2006 ◽  
Vol 82 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Engin ◽  
C. G. Carter

AbstractThis study investigated the effects of 100 g/kg increments of crude protein (approx. 250 (P25) to 550 (P55) g/kg of crude protein) in paired iso-energetic diets on the growth performance of the juvenile Australian short-finned eel (1·83 (s.e. 0·01) g average wet weight). The highest growth response was obtained with treatment P45 followed by P35, P55 and P25. It appeared that food efficiency ratio (FER) increased with increasing crude protein content in low energy diets (treatments P25 and P35). However, 100 g/kg increase in dietary crude protein content (from 450 to 550 kg crude protein per kg diet) in high energy diets resulted in lower FER for treatment P55 than for the treatment P45. The protein efficiency ratio (PER, %) was higher in low protein:low energy diets (treatments P25 and P35) than that of high protein:high energy diets (treatments P45 and P55). The protein productive values (PPV, %) for treatments followed a similar trend to PER in this experiment. The lowest PPV was obtained by the treatment P55 and it was significantly different from that of the other three treatments. A proportional increase in dietary crude protein content in paired iso-energetic diets did not significantly change the whole body protein content. However, a small increase in whole body protein content with increasing dietary crude protein in each group was detected. In conclusion, the present study showed protein sparing effects of lipids and carbohydrates in the diets of the short-finned eel. Further studies specifically investigating the effects of dietary carbohydrate to lipid ratios at different protein levels would improve diet formulation and reduce nutrient impact in intensive recirculation systems.


1974 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 769-781
Author(s):  
T. J. SHUTTLEWORTH ◽  
R. F. H. FREEMAN

1. Measurements of net flux of water have been made on isolated gills removed from freshwater-adapted and seawater-adapted eels and incubated in various media of differing osmotic pressure. 2. From these measurements it has been possible to determine the osmotic permeability coefficient of the gill directly from the net water flux. The values obtained (0.50±0.14x10-5 cm.sec-1 for freshwater eels and 0.43±0.07x10-5 cm.sec-1 for seawater-adapted eels) indicate that there was no significant change in this parameter on adaptation of the eels to sea water. 3. The direct measurements made of the net water flux across the isolated gills appear to be compatible with the osmoregulatory pattern of eels as deduced by other workers using different techniques. In particular they illustrate and further emphasize the significance of drinking in the freshwater fish. 4. Calculations indicate that, for a freshwater teleost, the osmotic and ionic problems caused by drinking in fresh water have an insignificant energetic effect and hence, energetically, it matters little to the fish whether it drinks or not.


<em>Abstract.</em>—The New Zealand eel fishery comprises two species, the shortfin eel <em>Anguilla australis </em>and the New Zealand longfin eel <em>A. dieffenbachii</em>. A third species, the speckled longfin eel <em>A. reinhardtii</em>, is present in small numbers in some areas. Major fisheries in New Zealand are managed under the Quota Management System. Individual transferable quotas are set as a proportion of an annual total allowable commercial catch. The Quota Management System was introduced into the South Island eel fishery on 1 October 2000 and the North Island fishery on 1 October 2004. Freshwater eels have particular significance for customary Maori. Management policies allow for customary take and the granting of commercial access rights on introduction into the Quota Management System. Eel catches have remained relatively constant since the early 1970s. The average annual catch from 1989–1990 to 2001–2002 (fishing year) was 1,313 mt. Catch per unit effort remained constant from 1983 to 1989 and reduced from 1990 to 1999. Statistically significant declines in catch per unit effort for New Zealand longfin eel were found in some areas over the latter period. For management, an annual stock-assessment process provides an update on stock status.


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