Comment
The American Eel population has declined by more than 99 per cent in Ontario.
In the early 1990s, biologists sounded the alarm about a drastic decline in eel populations in Ontario. The number of juvenile eels returning to Lake Ontario from the ocean had dropped from about 1 million per year in the early 1980s, to merely tens of thousands. Despite this warning, eels were not listed as endangered in Ontario until 2008. Unfortunately, this listing has done little to protect eels in Ontario because the government has still not finalized their action plan for the species.
Less than 100 eels returned to Lake Ontario via the Saunders ladder near Cornwall in 2017, which allows young eels to climb over the Moses-Saunders Power Dam. This is a 10,000-fold decrease from the early 1980s! The situation is now critical.
[Original Comment ID: 211854]
Submitted February 12, 2018 1:50 PM
Comment on
Development of the government response statement for American Eel under the Endangered Species Act, 2007
ERO number
013-1476
Comment ID
1724
Commenting on behalf of
Comment status