User:Chipmonkey9/European eel

Lead
The European eel (Anguilla anguilla) is a species of eel, a snake-like, catadromous fish. '''They are critically endangered due to overfishing by fisheries on coasts for human consumption and parasites. undefined'''

Description
European eels are normally around 45–65 cm (1.48–2.13 ft) and rarely reach more than 1 m (3 ft 3 in), but can reach a length of up to 1.33 m (4.4 ft) in exceptional cases.undefined In addition, they range from having 110 to 120 vertebrates.undefined While European eels tend to live approximately 15-20 years in the wild, captive specimens have lived over 80 years. A specimen known as "the Brantevik Eel" lived for 155 years in the well of a family home in Brantevik, a fishing village in southern Sweden.undefined

Ecology
Eels tend to range from 0 to 700 meters underwater and after spawning in the Sargasso Sea, disperse North throughout the Atlantic Ocean, its coasts, and the rivers that empty into it.undefined Feeding occurs mainly at night via scent and prey consists of worms, fish (including too big to eat without biting off chunks), mollusks such as slugs, crustaceans such as crayfish, and plankton on occasion when it's populous in large quantities.undefinedundefined '''European eels are preyed upon by bigger eels, herons, cormorants, and pike. Seagulls also prey on elvers.undefined Eels usually find and compete for shelter by hiding in plants or tube-shaped crevices in rocks. They also hide in muddy fields when inland.undefined'''

Conservation Status
The European eel is a critically endangered species. Since the 1970s, the numbers of eels reaching Europe is thought to have declined by around 90% (possibly even 98%). Contributing factors include overfishing, parasites such as Anguillicola crassus, barriers to migration such as hydroelectric dams, and natural changes in the North Atlantic oscillation, Gulf Stream, and North Atlantic drift. Recent work suggests polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) pollution may be a factor in the decline. TRAFFIC is introducing traceability and legality systems throughout trade change to control and reverse the decline of the species. The species is listed in Appendix II of the CITES Convention.

Sustainable consumption
'''Eels have been important sources of food both as adults (including jellied eels of East London) and as glass eels. Glass-eel fishing using basket traps has been of significant economic value in many river estuaries on the western seaboard of Europe. In addition, the United States imports 11 million pounds of eel every year to support its sushi industry, including European eels.undefined In order to make eel consumption sustainable, in''' 2010, Greenpeace International added the European eel to its "seafood red list", and the Sustainable Eel Group launched the Sustainable Eel Standard.

Production
The eel farming industry uses recirculating pools to raise glass eels taken from the wild for 8 months to 2 years until they mature enough for sale.undefined Valliculture on coasts through the use of weirs is also utilized instead of recirculating pools for eel farming.undefined New eels are quarantined to prevent disease spread and eels are sorted by size every couple weeks to prevent cannibalism.undefined At all stages eels that have succumbed to mortality are sorted out too.undefined A range of 23°C to 28°C is optimal for growth and protein based pellets and pastes are utilized as food sources for the eels after an initial few days of cod roe for the small glass ones.undefined European eels typically have a feed conversion ratio (FCR) in the range of 1.8-2.5, although European fisheries are typically in the 1.6-1.7 range.undefined  '''Filters are essential for eliminating waste and ensuring the eels have clean water to live in.undefined Eels are typically transported via road in tanks with water or via air in styrofoam boxes with a beaker of ice. The beakers keep condensation on the outside and ice on inside to keep the environment moist enough for the 1-3kg of eels to survive and also keep the temperature low enough.undefined'''

Diseases/Parasites in Fisheries
'''Diseases can be spread rapidly in the highly populated environments of fisheries if quarantine measures are not taken immediately upon arrival of new eels.undefined Some common bacterial infections observed in eel fisheries are red fin and red eel pest. When an eel has a red fin infection, its tail and fins start rotting, and a salt solution should be utilized to treat it.undefined Antibiotics can be used to treat red eel pest which is characterized by ulcerated lesions, swelling, and spots of red on the skin of the eel.undefined In addition, Aeromonas sobria and Streptococcus spp. are other more rare bacteria to infect European eels but have been observed in necropsies and are likely the result of other stresses increasing the eel's susceptibility to disease, but can be treated with antimicrobials.undefined Parasites such as from the genus Dactylogyrus have also been observed in necropsies, and some symptoms of parasitic infections in European eels are white spots, mucus increase, fin fraying, rubbing infected spots against the enclosure, respiratory distress, and lethargy.undefined These parasites are best treated with salt solutions or formaldehyde solutions.undefined Viral infections such as red head have also been observed; symptoms include red hemorrhaging spreading from the head to the rest of the eel and can be treated with vaccinations at a young age, salt solutions, or decreased temperature of water within the  enclosure.undefined Salt solutions also can treat fungal infections that cause swelling of gills and brown or white skin patches.undefined'''

Industry
'''The exportation of European Eels has been restricted since 2010, yet on average 44% of eel sales in the United States consists of these eels.undefined Eel aquaculture is most prominent in Japan, yet China, Scandinavia, Europe, Australia, Morocco, and Taiwan also participate in this practice.undefined Eel breeding programs initiated by humans have been unsuccessful thus far and therefore the entire industry is dependent on the number of eels spawning in the wild, leaving it unsustainable and vulnerable to the factors causing European Eels to be critically endangered. undefined'''