# Once a Week (magazine)/Series 1/Volume 7/Curiosities of eel culture

CURIOSITIES OF EEL CULTURE.
A great deal more can be said about eels than most people would suppose; more, at any rate, than has ever yet been made public in one place. For one thing, there is so little known about these fish, about their habits and history, as to have given cause for a large amount of speculation; how they breed, how they grow, and when they are fit to become food, are points which have been but very indifferently elucidated. We have, in times past, been treated to a great mass of questionable information about fish of all kinds, and particularly eels; it is only of late years, however, that naturalists have been able to resolve questions concerning the growth and powers of multiplication of that fish which have, from time to time, been propounded for scientific discussion. The study of the natural history of the eel has been hampered by old-world romances, and quaint fancies about its birth,—or, may we not say, invention?
“The eel is born of the mud,” said one old author. “It grows out of hairs,” says another. “It is the creation of the dews of evening,” said a third. “Nonsense!” exclaims a fourth controversialist, “it is produced by means of electricity.” “You are all wrong,” asserts a fifth, “the eel is generated from turf.” And a sixth theorist, determined to come nearer the mark than any of his predecessors, assures the public that the young fish are grown from particles of flesh scraped off the old ones!
Modern investigation has done away with this nonsense, and proved, as might be expected, that eels are the produce of eels. There is, as yet, no place in this country of the nature of a breeding pond, where the natural history of this fish can be properly studied. There are ponds for storing lobsters at Southampton, and there is a store-pond for white-fish in Scotland; but we know of no breeding-ponds either for eels or cod-fish, hence much of our ignorance about their powers of growth and productiveness. We have also a pond on the river Tay, in Scotland, which has been of use in determining questions connected with the growth of salmon, and likewise of adding to the value of the river; the pond-bred salmon having considerably augmented the natural supplies of that fish; and, as a consequence, raised the rental. It is likely, that in connection with the English salmon rivers, breeding-ponds will be erected on a large scale. The salmon being the king of fish, and of royal value, it will undoubtedly prove a profitable speculation to protect its spawn from injury, and its young from destruction. In the natural state, amazing quantities of fish-eggs are constantly destroyed, and countless thousands of the young fish are lost from want of protection—being devoured wholesale by their enemies. It would remunerate the enterprise if other fish were dealt with in the same way as the salmon of the River Tay, because it is well-known that if the young animals are protected from their enemies, a large per-centage of increase in the supplies becomes immediately apparent.
This fact has been already so thoroughly demonstrated in France and Germany as to lead to a national recognition of the French fresh water fisheries and their improvement by means of pisciculture, under the auspices of the government. At Huningue, near Bale, on the Rhine, there has been erected a vast dépôt for the collection and dispersion of fish eggs, which are conveyed from thence to all parts of the kingdom; and, under the directions of M. Coste, many of the depopulated rivers and bays of France have been restocked and rendered productive. The art of pisciculture, which was re-discovered some twenty years ago, ​by a humble fishermen of La Bresse, has indeed given new life to the continental fisheries: but the art of breeding and protecting fish was known long before the days of Remy, the French discoverer. In Italy, there has existed for upwards of two-hundred years, a vast fish-preserve, which yields a large annual return for the labour and capital expended upon it. We propose to show by what has been done at Comaccio (the name of the preserve indicated), in the breeding of eels, what might be achieved in England, in the way of constructing remunerative fish ponds.
All places exclusively devoted to fishing communities have a strong dash of the quaint or romantic about them; the fisher-folk seem to thrive under conditions of growth which would appear harsh and repulsive to landsmen, and the inhabitants of Comaccio are no exception to the rule. Indeed, their means of life and the strict discipline to which they are subjected, seem a little more than romantic, bordering somewhat on slavery. The population of the Lagoon, or rather of its islands, amounts to 6661, and the whole of the inhabitants are connected with the fishery, or with the salt-manufactory, which is carried on for its benefit. The people are remarkably clannish, are devout Catholics, and, like most fisher-communities, hold little intercourse with the world beyond them. A great number of the men employed in the fishery live in a barrack, and dine at a common table, the staple of their food being a pound and a half of eels, or other fish, per diem.
The Lagoon of Comaccio is situated on the coast of the Adriatic, between the mouth of the river Po and the territory of Ravenna, about forty-four kilomètres from Ferrara. The water is dyked out from the sea by a narrow belt of land, and forms an immense but shallow lake, nearly 150 miles in circumference, and from one to two metres in depth. Two rivers, the Reno and the Volano, form this vast swamp into a species of delta, similar to that formed by the Rhone at Comargue. They skirt the edge of the marsh from south to north, and descend to the sea, where their mouths form two distinct harbours, distant about twenty kilometres from each other, while between these two harbours lies that of Magnavacca, which gives the place its principal communication with the sea. M. Coste, in his tour of exploration, is most particular in describing this place, and takes great pains to detail fully the hydraulic apparatus of canals, sluices, &c., which have been constructed for the better regulation of the fishery. As we desire to be practical, we shall follow the example of Coste, and detail as succinctly as we can the history and apparatus of the place, so that persons desirous of speculating in an eel-pond may know what to provide.
The Lagoon of Comaccio, bounded by the two rivers we have named, and at one time giving complete access to the waters of the Adriatic, offered very favourable conditions for conversion into a field for the artificial propagation of fish, the meeting of the fresh and salt-water forming an excellent basis for such operations. It was a great waste marsh, totally unproductive, when its first inhabitants decided upon establishing themselves there. Abandoned to their own resources, they resolved to explore and cultivate the waters of the sea, as agricultural labourers explore and cultivate their fields. This was a mere experiment two centuries ago; but such experiments are again being tried, and the successes achieved in eel-culture at Comaccio prove them to be practical. What led the ancient Comaccians to the breeding of eels was their knowledge of that particular instinct which causes certain species of fish to migrate, and which in particular causes the young eels to ascend into rivers and lakes in innumerable legions some time after they are hatched, and to descend again to the sea when sufficiently grown to incur the dangers of the journey. It is a curious feature of fish-life that about the period when eels are on their way to the sea, where they find a suitable spawning-ground, salmon are on their way from the sea up to the river-heads to fulfil the grand instinct of their nature; namely, reproduction.
The periodical migrations of the eel can be observed in all parts of the globe, and they take place, according to the climate, at different periods from February to May; the fish frequenting such canals or rivers as have communication with the sea. The myriads of young eels which ascend would almost transcend belief; they are in number sufficient for the re-population of all the waters of the earth, if there were protective laws to shield them from destruction, or reservoirs in which they might be preserved to be used for food as required. The inhabitants of Comaccio, seeing the advantages which would result from a systematic cultivation of the young fish, set about constructing throughout the lagoon a series of canals and reservoirs in order to aid them in securing the eels at the time of their ascent from the Adriatic. To effect this they dug out in many places large holes through the natural dyke which separated the lagoon from the two rivers forming its sides. Over these open trenches they erected bridges, and to these they joined strong sluices, capable of being put in play by a handle or screw. These sluices again were provided with gates, which opened to let in the seed, or young fish, and closed again as soon as it was distributed in the basins. They also press into their engineering department twenty currents, which mingle the brackish waters of the lagoon with those of the rivers Reno and Volano. The waters of the Adriatic perform their part in these operations, and are conveyed into the lagoon by means of the canal of Magnavacca, where it is joined to a great basin of sweet water, the Mezzano; the whole being incorporated into the vast hydraulic apparatus of Comaccio. This canal, which is not less than 10,000 mètres in length by, 6 or 7 in breadth, and furnished to the right and left over all its course with branches, dividing and subdividing themselves, but never diminishing in size, distributes the waters of the Adriatic in any part of the lagoon where they may be required; but in general, the branches are directed towards the principal islands with which the lagoon is studded, in order that the mouth of each of these might be encased in one of the rectilineal trenches which cut the island from end to end. Thus their extremities, open at the end of these trenches, assisted ​to form each year during the fishing season an apparatus, to the right and left of which was found a sufficient quantity of firm earth to establish a reservoir and a dépôt of instruments for artificial propagation.
In order to show our readers more plainly how the great series of canals and reservoirs act, we take leave to borrow from one of the works of M. Coste, a bird’s-eye view of a valley and its labyrinth in the lagoon of Comaccio.
A trench, b, dug through the islet on which the valley is established (the banks of which are established against overflows by stones and fascines), puts in communication by means of two branches the Palotta Canal, a, with a basin of the lagoon, e. In this trench there is established by the aid of reed hurdles, upheld by stakes, one of the most simple and ingenious fishing apparatuses that it is possible to imagine,—an apparatus in which one can distinguish three principal compartments, d, h, k, having each its dependencies, g, i, l. The first of these compartments, d d, is that in which the fish are enticed that wish to gain the Palotta Canal, in order to make their way to the sea. It extends itself, or widens, from the edge of basin, e, and forms there a sort of ante-chamber, f f, to the partition walls of which is led an open strait for the passage of the waters. This disposition allows the currents which the flood of the Adriatic creates, to make themselves felt further away in the lagoon, and incites the fish more readily to enter the snares that are prepared for their reception. From the side of the Palotta Canal this compartment is bounded by two portions, which, supporting one of their extremities, each on a pile, meet again by means of the other extremities at an acute angle towards the middle of the canal. To this angle, which is open-mouthed, is generally adapted a triangular chamber, as in g, of which the end is also open-mouthed, and opens into the second compartment of the labrynth h, which is the greatest of all, forming a vast enclosure, from which the fish that wish to enter the chamber, g, of the first compartment, d, can only come out into another chamber, i, by a fatal fall at the only opening which is offered to them, through partition walls solid enough to become the prison of the mullet, the sole, or the dory, but too feeble to retain the eel. This fish slides with very little effort between the reeds (the degree of resistance offered by which is calculated purposely for this end), and pass into the last part of the labyrinth, k. The chamber, i, which a plank surrounds, to afford facilities to reach the fish, by the aid of which the picking and choosing is performed naturally. The third compartment, k, is used entirely for eels. It is more complicated than the two others, and has stouter and thicker partition walls. It resembles a fer de lance in form, and has three salient angles. Each of these angles is open-mouthed, like those of the two other compartments, which open equally into a triangular apparatus, l l l, the partition walls of which are formed by two, three, and even four hurdles placed above one another, and can resist all attempts of the imprisoned eels to escape. A simple purse net-work, which is placed in these fish-traps, suffices to preserve all the eels that are introduced into it. If these are not in a sufficient quantity to become the object of a special convoy, they are provisionally deposited in large spherical wicker panniers, which hold them immersed by the aid of cords. Each valley has, for the purposes of artificial propagation, first, a station, o, where the vallanti are shut up; secondly, one or more fishing barks; thirdly, a canal of communication, c, shut up at each extremity by a simple sluice, c c, which can be lifted to allow the passage of the small boats, and closed immediately behind them. This canal is the only way by which the boats can pass from the Palotta Canal into the basins, and vice versâ. Fourthly, the greater part of the valleys have also either, beside the place where vallanti is lodged, or on another part of the isle, a house which serves to protect the fishing instruments, the materials proper to the construction of the labyrinths, &c., and sometimes as a place of accommodation for the carpenter who constructs the boats.
We have been somewhat particular in our description, but not more so than is actually necessary.
As to the question, how eel-breeding would pay as a commercial speculation, we can present a few figures by way of data for calculations on that part of the case. The quantity of eel fry which ascend from the sea into the lagoon is positively enormous: they proceed in such myriads as quite to defy enumeration. What is called the seeding (that is, the filling with fish) of the lagoon commences early in February, when column upon column of the young eels may be found proceeding up the canal, and also up the two rivers. The sluices are of course all opened wide, and they remain open for about three months, till the whole of the young fish are supposed to have ascended. About the end of April the sluices are ​shut down, and the fish are then securely inclosed, and they never seek to leave till their breeding instinct moves them to gain the sea, at which time they have attained to a considerable size—from four to five pounds weight. The eel seems to grow at the rate of about one pound weight in each year. At first the fry will number so many as 1800 to the pound, and that number, in the course of a year or two, will be worth £40! It is difficult, even at Comaccio, to obtain precise information as to the growth of the eels. Some of the fishermen say that it is ten years before they arrive at maturity; others say they grow to their full size in half that time. Mullets, which are also cultivated to a large extent in the lagoon, are very small at the beginning, and number 6000 to the pound weight; but in the course of a twelve, month that quantity will have so grown as to be 1500 pounds in weight.
As to the average weight of fish taken from the lagoons in the course of a year, it is known, for instance, that between the years 1798 and 1813 the annual take averaged close on 2,000,000 pounds weight. At present the average yield is about 1,000,000 pounds. This comparatively short supply is caused by the mortality of former seasons; but it is known that the annual yield of fish does not represent anything like the breeding capacity of the lagoon. The quantity stolen by poachers is very considerable; so that M. Coste estimates the true production at 4,000,000 pounds weight each year. Three successive accidents killed nearly 10,000,000 pounds weight of fish. When a large capture is taken on any particular night a gun is fired in order to proclaim the good news; and next day a grand feast is held in celebration of the event. The harvest season begins at the end of autumn, and is inaugurated with solemn religious services. The sluices are opened to let in the sea-water, which is supposed to excite the migratory instinct of the fish, and lead them to seek their way out of the lagoon. Dark nights, accompanied with rain or wind, are those on which the largest captures take place. During a furious storm, on an October night in 1697, 1200 baskets of fish of different kinds were caught, the weight of which was close upon 700,000 pounds. The trouble attending the capture is not great: the fishermen wait patiently and silently round the basins and labyrinths till the fish rise, when they are handed out with great celerity. The harvest, like the seeding time, lasts for three or four months, and all engaged in it are gay and excited.
As the eels are caught they are transferred to the great cooking houses, where they are at once prepared for the spit—all, or most of the fish taken at Comaccio being sold in a ready-cooked state. To admit of this there is an immense series of kitchens, with gigantic fires, where the best of the eels are roasted, the smaller kind being fried in the fat of those which have been put on the spit. Even the grease is of great value, and flows from the fireplace to appointed reservoirs in a little canal which has been constructed for the purpose. Some of the fish are cruelly roasted alive; and on this delicate point we may quote the opinion of Eude, the great artist cook, who gives the reason for his process of throwing them on the live coals previous to their being skinned. In his book on cookery, he says: “Take one or two live eels, throw them into the fire; as they are twisting about on all sides, lay hold of them with a towel in your hand, and skin them from head to tail. This method is decidedly the best, as it is the means of drawing out the oil, which is unpalatable. Note. Several gentlemen have accused me of cruelty, for recommending in my work that eels should be burned alive. As my knowledge in cookery is entirely devoted to the gratification of their taste, and the preservation of their health, I consider it my duty to attend to what is essential to both. The blue skin and the oil, which remains when they are skinned, are highly indigestible. If any lady or gentleman should make the trial of both, they will find that the burnt eels are much healthier; but it is, after all, left to their choice whether to burn or skin.”
At Comaccio a great portion of the flat fish are fried in huge pans; but we are told that they are not thrown alive into the frying-pan.
Another mode of preserving the fish is by salting them in great stacks, and after time has been given for their being thoroughly saturated, they are packed in barrels of various sizes, and along with the grilled eels sent away into the interior of the country for sale.
The remaining style of cooking is by immersing the fish in a boiling pickle. “This cruel necessity,” we are told by Professor Coste, “is absolutely indispensable, otherwise the cure would be quite spoiled. If immersed after death, the entrails of the fish, absorbing too little salt, would corrupt, while the skin would present a deceitful appearance. If established usage was departed from, there would be the risk of our having at table beautiful fish, which on being carved would be rotten. To see if the conditions of cure have been fulfilled, the merchants on making a purchase always open the mouths of the fish, in order to smell them.” An insertion of powdered salt into the insides of the fish completes the operation.
Although we have not in this country such a place as Comaccio—the only fish-breeding pond being, as we have stated, on the river Tay, at Stormontfield—the example of the inhabitants of Comaccio might be followed, and a pond, or series of ponds, be erected about some of our marshy places, which would yield large quantities of wholesome fish-food, at a rate that would bring it within the reach of the poorest portions of the community. The Comaccio ponds could be easily imitated; and there are fens and watery places in England that seem naturally suited for the construction of such places. It is certain that there are very large quantities of eels in this country, and that these, when properly cooked, form a wholesome and palatable food. Somehow, the Scotch people have a terror of the eel, and decline to partake of it; but in time this prejudice might be overcome, and the rivers of Scotland made to yield up in large quantities those eels which are known to grow in them. Large quantities of this serpent-like fish are used in ​London, great cargoes being still brought from Holland to supply the eel-pie bakers of the great metropolis.
Any person requiring more detailed information than we have already given should read Coste’s “Voyage d’Exploration sur la littoral de la France et de l’Italie,” from which we have gleaned many of the preceding facts.