The eel has been red listed for several years and is illegal for private individuals to fish. Only licensed professional fishermen are allowed to pick up eels, nine months a year. But despite the eel being threatened with extinction, illegal fishing in the Baltic Sea is revealed and this year, the Marine and Water Authority seized 226 illegal gear, which is more than in previous years.
Almost all seizures have been made along the Blekinge coast. But Björn Stührenberg, control coordinator at the Marine and Water Authority, does not believe that there are more people who fish for eel.
- We are simply looking for the right places. Since the implements are not labeled, one must learn where to put the implements and look there, he says.
If it is about individuals or a more organized poaching, it cannot be answered on the basis of the seizures made by the Sea and Water Authority. But it is clear that money is a reason why poaching continues.
- It's a valuable fish, so it's an incentive to fish it, says Björn Stührenberg.