Eels pose the mother of all strife to Navy

EELS have disrupted a multimillion pound project to upgrade a jetty that will house a new £3 billion Royal Navy aircraft carrier.

The Environment Agency ordered the Royal Navy to suspend strengthening work at Victory Jetty in Portsmouth after claiming the noise could disrupt the fish while they are breeding.

The halt has led to a month-long delay on the improvement plan ahead of the arrival of HMS Prince of Wales. Despite the setback, the issue is not anticipated to affect the timescale of the 65,000-ton warship, the second of her class.

But some have questioned the decision to stop building.

Retired Vice-admiral Bob Cooling said: “To hold off a strategic build for an asset as important as an aircraft carrier for some eels seems absolutely absurd unless it’s a highly endangered species.

“Let’s find a pragmatic approach around the problem rather than saying, ‘All stop, there’s a couple of eels swimming around and we cannot disturb them’.”

Despite having once been so plentiful they were used as currency, the UK has seen a 95 per cent decline in the number of juvenile eels reaching its shores since the Eighties.

The drop is so severe many pie and mash shops have to bring in eels from Northern Ireland.

The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) applied for a marine licence to carry out the work to Sheer and Victory jetties earlier this year to allow the two aircraft carriers to dock at once, the agency said.

However, it raised concerns about the assessment by the DIO of the noise impact it could have on marine life and demanded a reassessment took place, which happened on June 15, with the results leading to the setback.

A spokesman for Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust said eels were now a protected species.

“They have a complex life cycle, which makes them vulnerable to man-made river structures, or activities that hinder their migration,” she said.