Though you're unlikely to catch many eels with a hook and line, commercial fishers who know when and where to find eel runs capture them by the thousands with nets and traps. One eel fishery in Quebec has exported 350 tons of eels to various parts of the world annually. Some complaints have arisen that eels are being overfished along the east coast from Chesapeake Bay to Canada's maritime provinces. If this should turn out to be a serious problem, a solution may be at hand. Eel farms have existed throughout the world for more than 2,000 years.
Eels provide much more than just food for human consumption.
The skins of American eels once were a source for quality book bindings and buggy whips. In Japan, shoes, wallets and brief cases are sometimes made from eel hides. Eels also serve as animal fodder, fertilizer and an ingredient in some glues. Medieval folk tales even led some to believe that larval eels came from the hairs of horses' tails or the dews of May mornings. Michael Wisenbaker is' a Tallahassee-based writer who frequently covers nature.