Endangered eels facing barriers along River Mole
European eels face more than double the number of barriers as had previously been recorded when travelling along the River Mole and its tributary rivers, a pilot conservation project has found.
Volunteers trained by the South East Rivers Trust (SERT) as part of the Thames Catchment Community Eels Project found 119 impediments – such as weirs, sluices and culverts - 66 of which were new to existing data.
The 23 citizen scientists trained by SERT assessed 107kms (66.5 miles) of the River Mole network, which rises near Horsham and stretches from Crawley via Horley along the Mole Valley to East Molesey and Thames Ditton, where it joins the River Thames.
The critically endangered European eel, a species of fish, starts life hatching out of a tiny egg in the Sargasso Sea, in the Atlantic Ocean, before travelling 6,500km to Britain. Eels spend most of their lives in Britain’s freshwater rivers.
They need to be able to travel around river networks so that, after many years as adults, they can eventually make the immense journey back to the Sargasso Sea to spawn. However, their journey along many rivers is inhibited by a range of man-made obstacles.
The project works closely with the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and Thames Estuary Partnership (TEP) to aid the long-term survival of the European eel.
Polly Penn, head of working with communities at the South East Rivers Trust, said: “We have been excited to be part of this project. It was a great opportunity to teach people about the lifecycle and plight of the European eel, as well as to contribute to vital data showing the barriers they face in moving along our rivers.
“The South East Rivers Trust has lots of experience either removing barriers or creating fish passes and we hope this project will lead to further enhancing nature along the River Mole in this way.”