[Sca-cooks] eels

[Bill Fisher]

On Mon, 14 Feb 2005 00:55:55 -0600, Stefan li Rous
<StefanliRous at austin.rr.com> wrote:
> Now that you mention it, I do remember that there are both freshwater
> and saltwater eels. I hadn't realized though that the freshwater eels
> needed to spawn at sea. This means you can't just indefinitely raise
> them in a pond as you can catfish. The pond simply becomes a holding
> area which you must replenish with new eels from the sea. Do eels swim
> up stream seasonally similar to salmon?
> 
> Stefan

http://www.cnr.vt.edu/efish/families/anguillidae.html


That site explains the mating process of the american variety of freshwater 
eels.  It also explains the tanking and farming process. somewhat.

Eels return to the sea once in their life to mate and die.  Males live 15
years females can live close to 20.

When I was a kid, we would catch the rare eel in the Susquehanna, in PA if they
let the faberdam in Shamokin Dam  deflated for the summer.  Now they are putting
in fish bypasses for the dams and the eells should soon be there again.

I remember eating eel cooked right after it was caught.  Because it would die 
on the stringer and my Mom would toss it and claim it was bad because the skin
would come off of it after it was out of the water.  So we would build
a campfire
where we were fishing and clean/cook the eel right there.

Now imaging looking at this and saying : yum

http://www.fiskbasen.se/images/petromyzon_marinus.jpg

That's right, the dreaded lamprey.......imagine them having these guys in the 
tank at the fish market?


Cadoc

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