Maturity finalises during its migration towards these deep-sea spawning areas. And therein lies the conger eel’s problem. The European conger is a significant commercial and recreational fish species in the Northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean. It is, however, caught more by accident than intent as bycatch in bottom trawl and demersal long line fisheries targeting other species. It is also prized as a trophy fish by rod and Venetoclax cell line line anglers. Although there is increasing evidence that stocks of the eel are in decline, there is little published

data on either its biology or population structure. There is no stock assessment of it by ICES and there are no managment objectives, indeed no management at all. Natural spawning has never been observed and reports of maturing individuals are rare. Because individuals spawn only once, all forms of fishing Selleck Tenofovir are therefore primarily targeting immature juveniles. The species thus has an extremely low resilience to fishing efforts. Similarly, because there is no specific management strategy, the species is often caught by bottom trawlers, typically associated with relatively high levels of bycatch and environmental damage to the sea bed. Part of my ignorance concerning conger eels comes from the fact that I did not know they were any kind of fisheries resource. And so it was with surprise to read of a report in the Daily Mail of 1 October 2009 about a giant conger eel that was caught

off the British coast and which was well over 3 m long and weighed a hefty 46 kg gutted, and nearly twice as long (and fat) as its new, chubby, fishmonger owner. Now think of the world record fish at three times this size! The Daily Mail fish was caught by a fisherman

from Torquay in Devon who sold it to the fishmonger for £50 (∼US$80). He, in turn, was going to sell it on as steaks but admitted that conger eel is not a popular fish in the United Kingdom because they are so ugly, although he claimed it is delicious. Hence, the average annual catch by United Kingdom fishing vessels is less than 400,000 tonnes but with most of the eels being exported to Europe – mainly France. Conger eels are predators and have been known to attack human beings. On 13 July 2013, the Irish Independent reported that an experienced SCUBA diver was attacked by a conger eel in Killary Harbour, County Galway, Ireland, www.selleck.co.jp/products/forskolin.html at a depth of 25 m. The (quite small) 2-m long eel bit a large chunk from his face causing terrible injuries. Interviewed subsequently, the diver said he ‘felt like a rag doll’ in the frenzied conger attack. He explained how the eel emerged from the depths and tried to drag him down to the sea floor – by his face. Fighting it off, he was eventually able to surface and his badly-shaken friends called an ambulance. His wounds, requiring twenty stitches, will also need plastic surgery over the coming months. A very lucky man and the stuff which nightmares are made of. But, I have a similar story.