2nd International Eel
Science Symposium
Adelphi Hotel, Liverpool
9th – 11th July 2024

Conference Supporters
The Institute is very grateful to the following
companies for their kind sponsorship of theconference.

Headline Sponsor

Networking EventConference DinnerStudent Sponsor

Ice Breaker Sponsor

Further Conference Supporters

Keynote Speakers
The Peter Spillett Lecture

Caroline Durif
Institute of Marine Research (Norway)
What have we learned since Bertin? How
trends in science have shaped eel research
since 1942

The Christoper Moriarty Lecture

Eden Skipper
Ngati Makō hapū tribe (New Zealand)
If the lake is full of tuna and the houses full ofour language, the people will be well

The Darren Bedworth Lecture

Robert Schabetsberger
University of Salzburg (Austria)
From myth to reason: Progress towards
unravelling the mysteries of tropical Anguillideels

Monday 8th July
Ice Breaker and Early Registration
19:00 – 21:00 Sefton Suite, Adelphi HotelTo kick off the week in style we invite you to join us and your fellow
delegates for a drink in the Sefton Suite of the Adelphi Hotel.
The welcome drink is kindly sponsored by the Sustainable Eel Group.
Join us to connect and unwind before the symposium officially begins.

The evening is kindly supported by.

PROGRAMME
Tuesday 9th July

09:30 – 17:50
Opening Session

Andy Don & Paul
09:30 Coulson
Environment Agency andIFM (UK)Tony Juniper
09:40 Chair of Natural England

Welcome from the conference conveners

Official conference opening and welcome toLiverpool

Keynote Address
09:50 Caroline Durif
Institute of Marine
Research (Norway)
10.20

The Peter Spillett Lecture
What have we learned since Bertin? How trends inscience have shaped eel research since 1942

BreakSession 1. Marine Phases #1: TrackingSession Chair: Andy Don, Environment Agency (UK)

Wayne Koster
11:00 Arthur Rylah Institute forEnvironmental Research(Australia)
Ros Wright
11:20 Environment Agency(UK)
Pieterjan Verhelst
11:40 INBO (Belgium)

Freshwater and oceanic migrations of short-finnedeels (Anguilla australis) in Australia

Takatoshi Higuchi
12:00 University of Tokyo(Japan)

Spawning migration behaviour and orientation
methods of anguillid eels

Tracking European eels to the sargasso sea
Mapping European silver eel (Anguillaanguilla) migration routes and behaviour in theNorth Sea and the Channel

12:20

Panel Q&A

12:30

Lunch

Session 2. Technical Assessment and SolutionsSession Chair:
13:30

Jon Bolland
University of Hull (UK)REDEEM project: Research and Development offish and Eel Entrainment Mitigation at pumpingstations.

13:50

John Burnett
ISI Screens INC (USA)

Design of Wedge Wire Screen Systems for Eel
Protection at Water Intakes and Diversions

14:10

Sarah Broos
INBO (Belgium)

A novel protocol to measure safe eel passage
through pumping stations in Belgium

Jeffrey Tuhtan
Tallin University(Estonia)
Iain Russon
Fishtek (UK)A method to derive injury and mortality doseresponse relationships for European eel using fielddata
Successful elver passage through a tidal
gate installed with a Tidal Gate Damper.

14:30
14:50
15:10

Panel Q&A

15:25

BreakSession 3. Monitoring and Population Assessment #1
Session Chair:

15:55

16:15

16:35
16:55

17:15

Felix Eissenhauer
University of New
Brunswick (Canada)
Ben Griffioen
Wageningen Marine
Research (TheNetherlands)
Tahri Mardja
Chadli BenDjedid
University (Algeria)
Tessa van derHammen
Wageningen Marine
Research (TheNetherlands)
Abigail Mackay
Wildfowl and Wetland
Trust (UK)A mark-recapture approach to estimate thepopulation size and demographics of American eelelvers (Anguilla rostrata) arriving at a dam in a large
river
Glass eel migration in an urbanized catchment: anintegral bottleneck assessment using markrecapture
Redefining Norms: A Proposal to Revise
the morphometric Standards of the South
Mediterranean European Eel stock
Changes in eel sex ratio and eel growth in the large
lake IJsselmeer in The Netherlands

Identifying the presence of Anguilla anguilla in theSomerset levels using eDNA

17:35

Panel Q&A

17:50

Close

Poster Session and Networking
19:00 – 21:00 British Music Experience, Cunard
Building
Please join us and fellow delegates to view the wide array of posters wehave had submitted from across the globe. During the course of theevening we will be showing eel films and will have a presentation fromour Māori delegation
There is also an opportunity to walk around the venue to view themusical exhibits and interactive displays.
The British Music Experience housed in the Cunard Building on
Liverpool’s historic docklands.

Drinks and light nibbles will be provided

A full list of posters can be found at the end of the programme

The evening is kindly supported by.

Wednesday 10th July

8:45 – 18:00

Session 4. Protecting the Eel: Economics and Legislation
Session Chair: Derek Evans, AFBI NI (UK)
Keynote Address
08:45
Eden Skipper
Ngati Makō hapū tribe(New Zealand)

The Christopher Moriarty Lecture
If the lake is full of tuna and the houses full of ourlanguage, the people will be well

Kristen Steele
09:15 University CollegeLondon (UK)

Connecting socioeconomics and conservation in theface of Brexit: summary of key findings in the Lough
Neagh eel fishery

Ayesha Taylor
09:35 Environment Agency(UK)Back to the Future - England’s Eel ManagementPlans

09:55 Willem Dekker
Swedish University ofAgricultural Sciences(Sweden)
10:15 Chris Grzesiok
Environment Agency(UK)The development of European eel protection policies
in recent decades

10:35

Regulation into Outcomes: Environment Agency
Mobile Pump Fish Screening Field Trials – Resultsand Findings
Panel Q&A

Break
10:50

Session 5. Behavioural Studies
Session Chair:
Benjamin Bluck
11:20 University ofSouthampton (UK)Ryoshiro Wakiya
11:40 University of Tokyo(Japan)Andrew Moore
12:00 AFBI NI (UK)

Blinded by the Light? Movement Behaviour of Glass
Eel (Anguilla anguilla) in Response to Artificial Light

Guglielmo Sonnino
12:20 SorisioCardiff University (UK)

Evaluation of current eel screening regulations andeel dynamics at exclusion screens and bypasses

Amphibious feeding mode in an Anguillid fish

Adventures with eels under UV illumination;from detection to deflection

Michael Williamson
12:40 Institute of Zoology
Zoological Society ofLondon (UK)
12:55
13:05

HR2 technology and 3D tracking of European eel in alandlocked drinking water reservoir
Panel Q&A

Lunch

Session 6. Monitoring and Population Assessment #2
Session Chair:
Kota Takeuchi
14:00 University of Tokyo (UK)

Rapid Loss Rates of Farmed Japanese Eels Stockedinto Two Different Rivers

Elin Myrenas
14:20 Swedish University ofAgricultural Sciences(Sweden)Carl Sayer
14:40 University College
London (UK)
Pierre Campton
15:00 MRM (France)

How are restocked eels doing compared to natural
recruits? Insights from long-term monitoringin marine and freshwater habitats in Sweden

15:20

Trap and transport –a way forward to facilitate numberof spawning eels in the Atlantic Ocean?

Niklas Sjoberg
Swedish University ofAgricultural Sciences(Sweden)European eel (Anguilla anguilla) use of coastal
grazing marshes in eastern England: informing eel
conservation
Eel’s downstream migration knowledge on the Rhone
Mediterranean basin (France)

15:40
Panel Q&A
15:55

BreakSession 7. Protecting the Eel: Trade and Trafficking
Session Chair:

Andrew Kerr
16:10 Sustainable Eel Group(UK)
Florian Stein
16:30

The SEG story its role and growing contribution to eel
protection
Trafficking in eels: What can science do to help law
enforcement?

Deutscher
Angelfischerverband e.V.
(Germany)
Joshua Song
16:50 Yang Choo
National University ofSingapore (Singapore)
Andreea Troneci
17:10 University of Glasgow

17:30
17:45

Eel-egal Meals? Investigating for the Illegal European
Eel Trade in Singapore’s Imported Eel Products

Europe’s biggest wildlife crime: Eight years ofcoordinated counter eel trafficking

Panel Q&ACloseConference Dinner
19:15 onwards, The Mersey Ferry
Join us for an evening afloat on the River Mersey. Guests will enjoy anevening meal and drinks whilst taking in the views of Liverpool and theWirrals historic waterfront as the sun sets.

The evening is kindly supported by.

Thursday 11th July

8:45 – 15:45

Session 8. Marine Phases #2
Session Chair: Paul Coulson, IFM (UK)
Keynote Address
08:45
RobertSchabetsberger
University of Salzburg(Austria)
Laura Gentile
09:15 University of Bolgna(Italy)
Hikaru Itakura
09:35 University of Tokyo(Japan)
Hakan Westerberg
09:55 Swedish University ofAgricultural Sciences(Sweden)
10:15 Kazuki Yokouchi
Japan Fisheries
Research andEducation Agency(Japan)
10:35

The Darren Bedworth Lecture
From myth to reason: Progress
towards unravelling the mysteries of tropicalAnguillid eels
Silvering process of female European eel in
the north Adriatic: who is really ready to migrate?
Increased marine heatwaves diminish productionof a dominant estuarine predator

On whales and eels
Exploring the Eel Mysteries: Insights from cruise
surveys of Japanese Eel Spawning Grounds andLarval Distribution in the Western North PacificPanel Q&A

Break
10:50

Session 9. Threats, Diseases and Propagation
Session Chair:
Arjan Palstra
11:10 Wageningen
University andResearch (TheNetherlands)
Billy Nzau Matondo
11:30 University of Liege(Belgium)

Research and collaboration to support eel
propagation

An overview of an intense 6-year monitoring studyof eels: life history traits,epidemiology, ecotoxicology and trophic ecology.

11:50 Gordon O’BrienCharles Sturt
University (Australia)
John Price
12:10 Environment Agency(UK)Jonathan McDowell
12:30 Queen University
Belfast (UK)

Ecological risk assessment of multiple
anthropogenic stressors affecting the Western
Indian Ocean Anguillid eels populations
Viral Pathogens in wild European eels in England– mortalities to management
Investigation into reproductive fitness bycomparing lipid content and contaminantburden within silver eels (Anguilla anguilla) fromthe heavily constrained water courses of Lough
Neagh and Lough Erne, Northern Ireland

12:50

Panel Q&A

13:05

Lunch
Session 10. Eel Health: Genetics and Mortality
Session Chair:Rob van Gemert
14:00 Swedish University ofAgricultural Sciences(Sweden)
Arif Wibowo
14:20 National Research andInnovation Agency(Indonesia)
Ezgi Ogutcen
14:40 University of Salzburg(Austria)
15:00
Andy Don & Paul
15:15 Coulson
Environment Agency &IFM (UK)
15:25

Evaluating stress during trap and transport in theEuropean eel using heart rate biologgers
An insight into the genetic diversity trend ofAngulid species in Indonesia using mitochondrial
data analysis.
Resolving the history of anguillid eels withgenome-wide data
Panel Q&A

Closing comments. presentations and thanks

Conference CloseClosing De-Brief
17:15 pm onwards, The Bridewell Pub

Open to all
Join us for a final drink and fishy chat in a converted police station!

List of Posters
PresenterTitle

Alex Haro

Development of a simple life table to model to estimate eel populations forrestoration projects

Amélie Hoste

Investigating the health status of silver eels in a Mediterranean lagoon

Angus Monaghan

Using eDNA to assess the regional distribution of the critically endangered
European eel in pumped catchments to inform management

Brendan Kerr

Is older better & wiser?
Comparison of historic Eel age calculations estimated by the accepted
methodologies of burning & cracking versus grinding &polishing

Chris BellSensing our way to replacing European eel during pump and turbine
passage risk tests

Craig McCoubrey

Could recreational fishing lure scents assist the sustainable harvest ofcommercially caught yellow eels?

Delraine Armstrong

Nga Kaitiaki O Nga Wai Māori
Mitigating fish passage - Assisting migrating freshwater fish, New Zealand’s
Longfin eel (tuna)

Derek W Evans

Broad head eels and breeding; sure, why bother?

Gary Leatherbarrow

Development of a large scale live fish pump testing facility

Giada Speranza

Genetic diversity and hybridization in Indian Ocean eels

Hikaru Itakura

Anguillid eels as a surrogate species for conservation of freshwater
biodiversity

Islam Abdelghafar

Numerical modelling of swimming activities and behavioural responses ofsilver eelsJiří MusilEel management plans in the Czech Republic: enormous effort and hardreality

Karin Camara

The German Rhine and the European eel: Eel management in a heavily
anthropogenically impacted freshwater system
Utilising passive sensor and live fish to assess fish-friendliness of pumping
stations and hydropower turbines

Katharina ReimannLadjama Imene

Evaluation of the nutritional and biochemical quality of Euro-Mediterranean
Eel from Tonga Lake and El Mellah Lagoon (North-East ofAlgeria)

Lasse Marohn

Silver eel escapement from a North Sea draining river – comparison ofmodeled and monitored assessments and implications
for stock management

Linna Danne

Development of a health monitoring for restocking measures of theEuropean eel

Martijn.Schiphouwer A Desperate need for Eel Reserves
Niamh Heatley

Quantifying the drain of physiological resources by the haematophagic
feeding behaviour of Anguillicola crassus, and associated impacts, on theEuropean eel Anguilla Anguilla

Nobuto Fukuda

How do glass eels find their way from the open sea to inland waters?

Peter Walker

Habitat enhancements for eels – easy wins

Rob van Gemert

Results of the 2024 assessment of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla)
stock in Sweden.

Rose Boardman

Environmental influences on the phenology of immigrating eels over weirs at
the tidal limit of three regulated rivers in England.

Ryoshiro Wakiya

Agonistic behaviour of wild eels and depressed survival and growth offarmed eels in mixed rearing experiments

Sarah Walmsley

Developing methods to survey glass eels in a large and dynamic estuary.

Sotiris Meletiou

European Eel Conserva3on in Cyprus: current status, challenges and theway forward

Tahri Mardja

Listing of parasites identified in European eel Anguilla anguilla captured in
the south shore of the Mediterranean -Algeria-

Tatsuhiko Maeda,

A non-lethal method for feeding research of giant mottled eels (Anguillamarmorata)

Willem Dekker

Giant eels are shrinking – two centuries of Dutch newspaper stories on
exceptionally large river eels indicate a steady decline of the stock

Randolph VelteropTo shoal or not to shoal? Observations of shoaling among adult EuropeanEel (Anguilla Anguilla) in coastal waters