The European eel (Anguilla Anguilla) has seen his presence in river channels and wetlands decrease from the Iberian Southeasthave disappeared from many of them and his population in others. The Fragmentation and breakdown of your habitatsthe Fisherythe Arrival and competition of invasive exotic species And probably the Climate changeare some of the causes that have led to this species classified as “In critical danger of extinction” worldwide for IUCN (International Union for Nature Conservation).
The data and information obtained will serve Improve the knowledge of the species and for the Drawing up management proposals that contribute to improving their state of conservation.
After the end of the Marks and recovery in the Lonja de Lo Pagán (San Pedro del Pinatar), during the following months the Sampling and study of migration of the species in the Wetlands in southern Alicante.
Gepcart 2: Saving the eels in Mar Menor
The activity is one of the actions included in the Gepcart 2 project, developed by Anse and WWF at the Mar Menor and Wetlands in South Alicante, and has marked more than 900 copies of the European Anguilla (Anguilla Anguilla) Landed in the Lonja of what they pay, and then released in the lagoon for monitoring.
At the end of 2024, the European Anguilla Market and Recapture campaign began (Anguilla Anguilla) In the Mar Menor, included in the Gepcart2 project. The goal is to one Approach to the population study of this species classified as “in danger of extinction”And evaluate the incidence of fish activity about it. This work gives continuity to other projects that have been developed by Anse in Mar Menor in recent years.
Four months later this promotion Closed with the marking of 911 copies (410 total weight) labeled with plastic markings of the Ankert-Tags type, and 300 of them also with pit tags (passive integrated perspondor).
After the marking and biometric data of each of the samples, the eel was released In the Mar Menor, so continue with the study of recovery of the species. Thus 67 of these marked eels were recaptured by fishermen and were released again by Anse in La Laguna.
This data marking and recapture of data, and which obtained in previous projects, They will help to know the state of preserving this species in Mar Menor. They will also contribute to better information when the autonomous community and fishermen can assess the continuity or not of fishing in the context of decisions on a larger scale that the government of Spain and the European Union can take.
An ambitious project
The project Gepcart2 The aim is to give continuity and to complete the actions aimed at improving knowledge about the populations of European eel In the coastal laws of the Red Natura 2000 and the channels of Iberian Southeastinitiated from 2017 with previous initiatives of the PLEAMAR program.
Since then, all kinds of water courses have been expressed to evaluate the state of the species, including in 2018/2019 Acoustic telemetry devices Posted in Adult copies in the Smaller. This technique made it possible to detect how many individuals their migration to the Sargasso Seathere Atlantic Oceantours more than 6000 kilometers.
As novelty, Gepcart2 contains a new marking system, called PitWhich means that 300 devices are installed. These electronic labels from millimeter are automatically detected and decoded in situ, which means that the need to sacrifice fish, to anestheticize, manipulate, manipulate or immobilize it during data resilience.
The equipment project also continues to use acoustic telemetry In the Wetlands van Zuid -Alicante, with the aim of study Vega Baja del Segura. The information obtained will identify the threats or barriers with which the species is confronted on the way to the Mediterranean SeaWhere his migration starts.
This project was developed by Anse y WWF Spainand has the collaboration of the Biodiversity Foundation from the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic ChallengeThrough PLEAMAR programco -financed by the European Union by him Fempa (European Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund).