Angling in Scotland

          This is an article from the Scottish federation for coarse angling website

Licence Now Required To Fish For Eels in Scotland !

The SFCA has recently be made aware that in August 2008 the Marine Directorate of the Scottish Government joined its European partners in introducing a protection order on the European Eel (Anguilla Anguilla).  This protection order requires anyone fishing for eels to obtain a licence to do so from the Scottish Government.  The protection order has been introduced to try to reverse the dramatic decline in the eel population that has taken place over the past 30 years.  Unfortunately, while the protection order was aimed at controlling the commercial eeling industry it does not exclude recreational anglers.  This leaves a situation where anglers caught with eels in their possession without a licence could be liable for prosecution.  For the purpose of clarification, having eels retained in a keepnet could be considered as having them in your possession.  The SFCA has made representation to the Marine Directorate that eels are often caught by coarse anglers whilst legitimately persuing other species.  They have undertaken to review the Protection Order as soon as is practical with a view to excluding recreational angling.  In the meantime, to ensure that none of our members are acting illegally or can be accused of doing so, the SFCA is introducing the following rules to all of its competitions and is encouraging all clubs and individual anglers to do the same:

Eels will not count in any SFCA match and must not be placed in keepnets. 

  Eels are to be unhooked carefully using wet hands and returned to the water immediately.  Dry items such as towels, newspaper and landing nets should not be used to hold eels as they will remove excessive amounts of the essential slime that the eel relies upon to protect it from infection.  Instead, the eel should be moved away from the water’s edge and laid on a soft material such as an unhooking mat.  If the eel is found to be uncontrollable it is recommended that its eyes be covered with a wet dark material. Gently sooth your wet hands down the sides of the eel and you will find it calms down. Alternatively turn the eel on its back and straighten it out. This puts the eel into a sort of coma or induced calm. If this method is used the hook should be removed quickly and the eel returned to the upright position as soon as possible as prolonged time left in this position could damage the eel and eventually lead to death.

If an eel that has been caught has swallowed the hook deeply the following procedure, which has been taken from the National Anguillla Club website, is to be followed:

A disgorger should not be used if the hook cannot be seen as many of the eel’s vital internal organs are very close behind the head.

Instead, the line is to be cut as close hook as possible and the fish returned to the water.  While this may seem unacceptable, eels will often be able to regurgitate small barbless hooks and if not, their strong stomach acids will break the hook down so that it can be passed through their system.  In either case the eel will have a far greater chance of survival than if a disgorger accidentally punctures an internal organ.

The SFCA strongly recommends that all anglers use barbless hooks for all of their fishing, that rods are not left unattended and that bites are struck as soon as possible and are not allowed to develop, in order to avoid deep hooking.

Further information on the Protection Order will be published on the  SFCA website as soon as the new Order comes into force.

Also on the SFCA Website, is an article from Chris Daphne, Environment Officer of the National Anguilla Club outlining the plight of the eel and asking all coarse anglers to support them by not purchasing eel sections to use as bait.  Angling in Scotland strongly supports this position and encourages all of our readers to do the same.