So, freshwater eels - should they feature on the NZ records list? Why, why not?

Conger, moray, blind and snake aren't on the list, so why consider a freshwater eel?

JamesHB wrote: The big ones 'are not' the breeders  im pretty sure? I read somewhere they get big due to not going off to spawn and they stay put.

what UJ said

I go eeling lots you have to know how to prepare em. They vary a lot from place to place. I have got some big ones lately in a secret spot that have smoked up awesome. On sat I took my 4 year old son out and tried to go upstream to have a go. I enquired in a farm house as to access for my son and I. The guy said definitely not theres a crazy old lady who tells everyone you cant eel there and aparently feeds them and has a couple of big pet ones in there. Come to think of it two large ones came right up to my burley and were very friendly before I gaffed em. Ill have to thank the old girl next time I see her for fattening them up for me.

JamesHB wrote: sAsLEX wrote:   They breed off Tonga and die there, hence if they are here they have not bred, why would they protect the bigger ones if they were not going to breed?  They are protected in some lakes and waterways (Lake Rotoiti for example) which are far inland and have older populations.  They are rather fatty in places and don't taste that nice - the one we cooked was out of an old Kauri dam and the water was pretty stagnant.  "The really big eels are reputed to be infertile females that never returned to the sea or perhaps couldn't." http://www.fishing.net.nz/asp_forums/biggest-eels-in-nz_topic67668.html?KW=eel

I believe the current theory is that the big  long fins do in fact go off to breed. They just take a while to do it.  The large long fins conservation status is "At risk, declining" so probably not a good idea to encourage the spearing of them.  Although the commercial take and habitat destruction is the main cause for their decline.  Eels are probably the most speared fish in the country.  

I would stick to only targeting the common Short Fin eels, and see no reason why they should not be included in the New Zealand records. 

I think they should be on the list. Lots of people take eels for food - they would have to be one of the species which has the longest history of being used for food in this country. I am not sure if there is much glamour in holding the eel record, but the same can be said for congers and drummer.  Regardless of whether it is on the list or not, you are not giong to see a flood of divers wiping out the waterways to get a record eel, so I don't think fishery conservation status is a consideration. 

I assume we have rules about how much of a diver you must be to spear a record fish - presumably fully immersed is the rule?

I shot a snapper standing on a rock a wee while back while sorting my floatline out.  Man, I'd have been gutted if it was 16kg and the record claim had been rejected because I wasn't fully submerged.