EELS
INTRODUCTION
I did my assignment on eels because they are really interesting fish. There
is an eel factory in Skipton and I wrote some information about its history
and what they do there. The eels’
life-cycle is really amazing because of how far it travels during its
life-cycle. There are many types of eels but I just wrote about some of
the common ones to Australia and I also discovered eight incredible facts
about the eel.
TYPES OF EELS
There are many types of eels found in Australian waters. The Long finned
eel, Short finned eel, Moray eel and the Wilson Conger eel are some of
the common ones.
THE MORAY EEL
The Moray eel lives all of its life in the sea. They have very sharp
teeth, unlike the short and long finned eel that don't have any teeth at
all. They eat small fish but they like octopus better. They can grow up
to a metre in length and don't weigh very much. Their mouth is always open
but that is because of the way that they breathe.
WILSON CONGER EELS
Wilson conger eels live all of their lives in the sea around most of
the Australian coast. They are good to eat. They can be caught by hook.
They can grow up to two metres in length and they aren’t very thick.
LONG FINNED EEL
The scientific name for the long finned eel is Anguilla Reinhardti.
They are found in coastal streams including fresh water rivers, ponds,
dams and lakes. The long finned eel is different to the short finned eel
because its top fin is longer than its bottom one. It also has spots all
over its body. It can grow up to one point eight metres in length and can
weigh up to fifteen kilograms.
This is a long finned eel on the gutting table at skipton eel factory.
SHORT FINNED EELS
The short finned eels' scientific name is Anguilla Australis. The short
finned eel is common in dams, lakes, creeks, and streams in Victoria, New
Zealand, Tasmania and South Australia. The Short Finned eel is the main
species fished in the Skipton district and processed at the eel factory.
The female is about one point two metres in length while the male is only
50 or 60 cm long. When the short finned eel get older they get thinner
because they loose their guts and stop eating so they will have room to
fit their 3,000,000 eggs.
This is a trough at the Skipton eel factory that they swim the eels
in before they export them over seas.
Life Cycle
The eel starts its life as a tiny see through sexless larva. In the Coral
Sea near New Guinea. It slowly starts to develop as it moves south with
the currents to New Zealand, Victoria or Tasmania. It takes one to three
years for the larvae, which are about 50 -70 mm. long, to swim 3,000 kilometers
down the east coast of Australia and enter freshwater estuaries. At this
stage of their life cycle they determine their sex. The larva that travel
up stream become females and the ones that stay in the estuaries become
males. After a short period they grow to become elvers and turn brown in
colour. They swim to a freshwater dam, creek, stream or lake and live there
for six to thirty-five years. The eel is now fully mature. The eels grow
breeding organs, lose their gut and stop feeding. Before completing its
life cycle the eel starts its long journey back to the coast of New Guinea.
There it spawns and then dies.
Research suggests that only one percent of all the eels complete the
whole life cycle. When they’re tiny larvae they become part of the plankton
and can be eaten by whale or sea anemones. During their life cycle other
fish, birds, drought and fishermen endanger them.
How The Life Cycle Was Discovered
In early times people thought that elvers were a whole different species
to eels. Pliny, a Roman naturalist thought that elvers grew from horsehairs
that where accidentally dropped into the water. Another theory by the Greek
philosopher, Aristotle was that elvers grew from mud. The elvers were too
small to be eaten so they weren't considered to be important.
The first break through was in 1896. Some Italian naturalists kept
some elvers in an aquarium and watched them develop. They studied numbers
of elvers in the Straits of Messina and followed their trail. This meant
they found the connection between the elvers and the eels. Danish scientist
Johannes Schmidt researched eels with a series of expeditions.
What do elvers look like?
Elvers are found in deep coastal waters. They are shaped like a leaf and
are about 5cm in length. They are transparent.
What do eels look like?
The eel is very similar to the snake. It has small pectoral fins both
sides of its body behind the head. It has two fins that run parallel to
its body one on the top and one on the bottom. Its skin is smooth, slimy
and has tiny scales. It swims in a wavy motion similar to a snake.
Hec holding a short finned eel at the Skipton eel factory.
Skipton Eel Factory
Eels Australis, the Skipton eel factory has been running for 33 years.
It is the largest eel factory in the Southern Hemisphere. There are six
long established eel factories in Victoria. Over recent years the number
of license holders could have risen to eighteen.
The Skipton eel factory catches the eels from the Western District.
Regular fishing spots are Lake Burrembeet, Lake Knarpert, local farmers’
dams, Nerrin Nerrin lakes and also the Bawon River near Geelong. They catch
short finned eels and some long finned eels from Gippsland.
The eels can grow to 1.2 metres and weigh 3 kgs. They catch up to 700
to 800 eels per day. After the eel have been netted the eels are transported
to the factory in Skipton. All of the eels are exported over seas. Some
are exported live to China. Before they export the eels they swim them
in clean water for two weeks so they don't taste muddy. Most of the eels
from Skipton are exported frozen to Germany and Korea. There is from 100,000
to 150,000 kg of eel exported per year. At Skipton eel factory they kill
the eels with ammonia. Ammonia destroys bacteria and germs. It kills the
eels and removes the slime to make it easy for the gutting and packing.
Facts
1. Fishing: The eel fishermen first set the nets and clear them every 48
hours. They then collect the eels from out of the net and empty them into
the boat. The eels are graded according to their size. Small eels are released
back into the water. The eel taken back to the ute to be transported back
to Skipton eel factory for processing.
2. The eel can survive for forty-eight hours out of water because its
skin is full of oil, which keeps the eel moist.
3. The eel can swim forwards as well as backwards.
4. The eel can travel on land for a short distance.
5. The eel can breathe through its skin as well
as its gills.
6. The eel looks very similar to a snake.
7. Elvers, when traveling up stream can climb waterfalls and man made
weirs 80 to 100 feet tall.
8. In dry periods the eel can live in mud for a short time, while other
fish would die. |
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Bibliography
1. Fishes of Victoria by Neville Coleman.
2.The Book of facts
3. www.niji.or.jp/horisho/ot_s/a29html
4. www.fishnet.com.au/fishfile/fisheel.html
5. "Wildlife" by Barry Dowling in The Age 24th February, 2000
Photos are by courtesy of Skipton Eel Factory
