Jellyman, D. J. 2007. Status of New Zealand fresh-water eel stocks and management initiatives. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 64: 1379–1386. New Zealand has two main species of fresh-water eel, shortfin (Anguilla australis), which is...
moreJellyman, D. J. 2007. Status of New Zealand fresh-water eel stocks and management initiatives. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 64: 1379–1386. New Zealand has two main species of fresh-water eel, shortfin (Anguilla australis), which is shared with Southeast Australia, and the endemic longfin eel (A. dieffenbachii). Both species are subject to extensive commercial and customary fishing. The shortfin is the smaller and shorter lived, with typical generation times for females ranging from 15 to 30 years; generation times for longfin females are double this. The distribution and the abundance of both species have been compromised by habitat modifications, shortfins, the more lowland species, being affected by wetland loss, and longfins by weirs and dams. Although there are few concerns about the status of shortfins, there is increasing evidence of overexploitation of longfins, including reduced recruitment, reduction in catch rates, reduction in abundance and average size, and a region...