EEL PASSES INSTALLED ON SEVERN

Eel passes are being installed this month on the River Severn system as part of a three-year project to help conserve the critically endangered species.

Conservationists from the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust are microchipping wild eels at the Slimbridge site to monitor how they use the reserve and when they return to the sea to breed. “Numbers of glass eels returning to the UK have decreased by 95% in the past 40 years and they urgently need our help,” said Emma Hutchins, WWT’S head of reserves management. Land reclamation has reduced habitat availability for eels.