Document Type
Report
Department/Program
Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Publication Date
9-17-2020
Abstract
American Eel (Anguilla rostrata) is a valuable commercial species along the Atlantic coast of North America from New Brunswick to Florida. Landings from Chesapeake Bay typically represent 60% of the annual United States commercial harvest (ASMFC 2012). American Eel is also important to the recreational fishery as it is often used live as bait for Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis) and Cobia (Rachycentron canadum). In 2016, Chesapeake Bay commercial landings of American Eel (728,717 lbs) were 78% of the U.S. landings (personal communication from the National Marine Fisheries Service, Fisheries Statistics Division). Since the 1980s, harvest along the U.S. Atlantic Coast has declined, with similar patterns occurring in the Canadian Maritime Provinces (Meister and Flagg 1997). The American Eel Benchmark Stock Assessment report (ASMFC 2012) established that the American Eel is depleted in U.S. waters; the 2017 stock assessment update (ASMFC 2017) confirmed that this population remains depleted.
DOI
DOI: 10.25773/h5me-gg54
Keywords
American Eel, Fisheries, Survey, Potomac River, Virginia
Publication Statement
Submitted to: Potomac River Fisheries Commission January 2020 – September 2020
Recommended Citation
Tuckey, T. D., & Fabrizio, M. C. (2020) Evaluating Recruitment of American Eel, Anguilla rostrata, in the Potomac River (Spring 2020). Virginia Institute of Marine Science, William & Mary. DOI: 10.25773/h5me-gg54
