Eel Monitoring
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What is Eel Monitoring?
American Eels are some of New Hampshire’s most fascinating creatures. Born in the Sargasso Sea, east of Bermuda, the tiny larval eels drift for months on ocean currents that eventually bring them to the shores of the East Coast. As eels mature, they grow a little bigger, develop new coloration, and swim up the rivers of the East Coast into freshwater, where they spend most of their adult lives.
The American Eel is also a commercially important species, so there is a strong federal and state effort to monitor their population status. Since 2013, the Coastal Research Volunteers have assisted NH Fish and Game in expanding the number of sites at which they monitor eel migration. Coastal Research Volunteers conduct daily monitoring at an eel migration site on the Oyster River.
What do Eel Monitoring volunteers do?
Join our eel monitoring effort!
To learn about our 2020 season, sign up for our newsletter or contact Wells.
Links, resources, and partner organizations
You can learn all about this fascinating creature here, and check out this article in the New York Times about a similar volunteer eel monitoring program in New York. And make sure to watch the video below, filmed while monitoring eels out with the Coastal Research Volunteers on the Oyster River.
Volunteer Resources
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