http://www.wellandtribune.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2564865

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/764918

http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/Article....aspx?e=2563050


The Welland Tribune
American eels once a prized Great Lakes inhabitant
Posted By ANDREW FLETCHER, SPECIAL TO QMI AGENCY
Posted 2 days ago


The American eel is a fish rarely seen in the St. Catharines area, but even
with dwindling numbers, this endangered species can still make its presence
felt.

During the past 30 years, there have been only nine documented sightings of
the American eel in Niagara. But what is so special about the American eel
that it nearly scuttled the Shickluna power project this week?

Yves De Lafontaine, a research scientist with Environment Canada, said the
American eel used to have strong numbers in Canada, but has been in decline
for 30 years.

Turbines from hydro electric plants are responsible for slaughtering one-
third of the eels that enter the St. Lawrence River each year.
De Lafontaine and his team have been counting the amount of eels as they
pass through a fish-ladder that was built in Cornwall. The fish-ladder was
contructed in 1974 and is managed by Hydro One.

In the late 1970s, the amount of eels passing through the ladder averaged
about one million a year. Presently, the ladder sees just 10 eels per year.
Another threat to the eel is overfishing, as eels have been caught in
Ontario since the mid-1960s.

The American eel used to be one of Canada's most valuable fish, fetching as
mush as $7.65 per kilogram in 2007, four times more than other fish and
shellfish.

The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources stopped the harvesting of eels in
2004 and the American eel appeared on the Canadian Species at Risk Act in
2006.

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St Catherines Standard
Eels could scuttle power project
Posted By MARLENE BERGSMA , STANDARD STAFF
Posted 3 days ago


St. Catharines Mayor Brian McMullan is hosting a last-ditch effort to save the Shickluna power project Tuesday, with a high-level meeting over the fate of American eels.

New federal and provincial requirements to protect the endangered eel are making the project impossible, said St. Andrew's councillor and hydro board member Joe Kushner at Monday night's city council meeting.

St. Catharines hydro has already agreed to add a $1.2-million fish ladder to the $38-million project, Kushner said, but a new requirement for a 2.5- centimetre grate to block eels from swimming into the turbines "makes the project financially non-viable."

Even more frustrating for St. Catharines hydro is another new requirement that the project boost the eel population in Twelve Mile Creek, Kushner said, which requires a second fish ladder downstream at the Heywood Generating Station and the spectre of more eel protection to be required there.

For two years, St. Catharines hydro has tried to meet all the requirements of various public bodies and governments, Kushner said, including the provincial Ministry of Natural Resources and the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

"To date, all requirements from agencies, other than MNR and DFO, are reasonable and can be accommodated," Kushner said.

But since nine American eels were discovered in the waterway over the past three decades, the $1.6 million already spent on engineering work is in danger of being wasted.

"Because the species is endangered, the requirement is zero kill through the turbines," Kushner said.

But installing a grate with 2.5-centimetre spacing reduces the waterflow to the turbines "and reduces the amount of electricity we can generate," Kushner said in an interview. The power reduction would make the project no longer viable, he said. Normally, a trash rack would have 10-or 15- centimetre grates, he said.

St. Catharines hydro has set Tuesday as the deadline for a resolution to the impasse, said Kushner.

McMullan, who is also a hydro board member, said he has called a meeting Tuesday among hydro officals, natural resources officials, fisheries and oceans officials and the engineering company that designed the power project.

"We want to have everyone at the table," McMullan said.

If a deal can't be reached, the hydro board has said talks will end, Kushner said.

St. Catharines MP Rick Dykstra and St. Catharines MPP Jim Bradley will then be informed the project is over unless the hydro board gets a green light by May 27, Kushner said.

McMullan said St. Catharines hydro is willing to take all reasonable steps to protect the eels.

"We can address concerns with respect to the American eel and still support this project," McMullan said in an interview, "provided all parties are reasonable."

"I remain optimistic about the meeting tomorrow," McMullan said at council. "This is a critical juncture and I remain hopeful we will make sufficient progress to allow the program to continue."

McMullan said both federal and provincial officials have given the project positive reviews, and the green power potential fits both federal and provincial policies for clean energy. "It's the perfect project," he said.

Kushner said earlier worries about the project not being approved for a Feed-In-Tariff contract are expected to be resolved.

"This is a problem the board feels is resolvable," he said.

- - -

Eels spotted

1972 -- 1 in Martindale Pond 1984 -- 3 in the Short Hills area 1990 -- 1 in the upper reaches of Twelve Mile Creek

1995 -- 1 in the Short Hills area 1997 -- 2 in Martindale Pond 2008 -- 1 in the Short Hills area -- information provided by Coun. Joe Kushner


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No crocs at Cootes
Kaz Novak, the Hamilton Spectator
May 07, 2010
Eric McGuinness
The Hamilton Spectator
(May 7, 2010)
An American eel and longnose gar mark two firsts at the Cootes Paradise Fishway this spring, but Royal Botanical Gardens staff report no sightings of either crocodiles or alligators.

Tys Theysmeyer, head of conservation at the RBG, said the eel, an endangered species once abundant in Lake Ontario, is the first caught since 1997, when the fishway began operating to keep destructive carp out of the Cootes marsh at the far west end of Lake Ontario.

He said it might be one of 144,000 released into the St. Lawrence River in a 2006 restocking effort. Eels are small enough to swim through the fish barrier, so it was just chance it was caught in one of the steel baskets used to sort carp from desirable species allowed into Cootes to spawn.

Longnose gar is a large, primitive predator species with an elongated snout and many large teeth. Young males have turned up at the barrier before, but the recent catch was the first female and the first big gar, 1.2 metres long. Theysmeyer said they can grow to 2 metres.

"They are a normal, big, wetland predator fish historically wiped out in Cootes Paradise, but they have hung out in warm water near the steel mills in the harbour, where the Hamilton Naturalists' Club once counted more than 200."

A heavy rain in March submerged the fishway, giving carp a brief free pass into Cootes, but Theysmeyer said few appear to have taken advantage, so the marsh remains largely free of the invasive fish that uproot plants and stir up mud, making the water murky.

He reports the water level in Cootes is down half a metre from last spring's near-record high.

"It's no fun if you're a fish," but it could give a big boost to Project Paradise's efforts to restore vegetation to the wetland.

Instead of planting seedlings as it's done for years, this summer the RBG is fencing off mud flats near the mouth of Spencer Creek, hoping seeds will germinate and grow in much larger numbers than could be planted. The fences are to keep Canada geese from munching on the sprouts.

Theysmeyer said: "The water hasn't been this low in the spring since 1961 and has approached this level only twice since, most recently in 1999, so we've changed our approach to plant regeneration.

"We're focusing on protecting seedlings. There are about 10 hectares of bare mud at the creek mouth now and if we get plants growing on even seven, it would make a dramatic change in the appearance of the marsh. It would also help rebuild as much as half a kilometre of the creek channel. It would make the marsh much more interesting for fish and people."

Thanks for posting this. good read, I've been waiting to hear more about the denial of the shickluna project.

So, when I order Unagi Maki, am I getting farm raised eel?

Possible, but the American Eel is protected only in the Great Lakes to my knowledge. Other populations, especially sea-run, I believe are still harvested, although those numbers are in decline as well.

Sad...I remember catching these eels on a regular basis in the 80s. I was never trying to catch them, but they would bite on the dew worms we used to fish for drums and cats off the Port Dalhousie peers and mouth of the Welland canal. Slimy buggers that virtually always swallowed your hook...but they sure are a fascinating creature.

I believe there have been more eels caught in the 12 mile system than stated in the papers . A large eel was caught in Martindal pond about 2 yrs. ago . They will tie your line in a knot & fill the line with slime .....better to cut the line at the hook asap . There was a fish ladder at Port Dal. years ago which would make it easy for eels & trout to enter the pond to the 12 mile creek . We caught eels way up past short hills , especially after a rain when the creek flow increased . I have to ask, where do the eels enter the upper system at Port Dalhousie now ? Can they climb the falls which is about a 10' drop ? The Shickluna dam must not be a fish destroyer ....a bypass must also be built .

All delicious sushi involves some sort of endangered specie one way or another.

The 9 in the last 30 years off , I got one down at the mouth of the Forty here in Grimsby , not long after I moved here in 1984. As others have come forward bet there is more that weren't reported, didn't know they were that rare at the time and worthy of reporting.

wasnt one caught at the twelve while we were fishing there bill a few weeks back