Eel products in Victoria come from wild-harvested and ranched eels, with the cultivation of ranched eels tending to take over from wild catch.35
The total production is about 300 tonnes, most of which is exported to Europe, where it is held in high regard. Small quantities of eels are also exported to Asia.36
As indicated in Table 4.1, the wild catch of eels in 1997 was 162 tonnes. The species caught in the wild are the widely distributed long-finned eel (Anguilla reinhardtii) and the short-finned eel (Anguilla australis). Many of the eels taken, however, are of insufficient quality for the demanding export market. This has led to a low-intensity ranching system where young eels are transported to more productive waters for on-growing.37 These waters are mainly Western District lakes. The short-finned eel is the main species used.
These two species of eel have the greatest potential for aquaculture as well. The short-finned eel is a temperate species, though found as far north as central Queensland. The long-finned eel is better suited to sub-tropical climates.
These eels have a remarkable life cycle. The adults, at 10 to 25 years of age, migrate downstream to the sea to spawn at depths of greater than 300 metres. The tiny larval eels are apparently brought back to the continental shelf by ocean currents. There they metamorphose into `glass' eels. These are then carried by tides into estuaries and coastal rivers where they develop into `elvers' (now up to 1 to 3 years old). Elvers appear as small versions of the adults. They migrate further upstream into fresh water, where they develop into mature adults. The Australian short-finned and long-finned eels are thought to spawn in the Coral Sea. Thus, for Victorian eels, a journey of several thousand kilometres is involved in spawning and returning to fresh water. 38
Given the complexity of the life cycle, it is not surprising that these eels cannot be bred artificially. Stocks are obtained by annually harvesting glass eels and elvers during their migrations. 39
The bulk of the world's current eel cultivation, of more than 130,000 tonnes a year, occurs in Asia, with significant production in Europe as well.40 Total Australian production is approximately 500-600 tonnes per year and worth $4-6 million. Victorian production (250 to 400 tonnes per year) is mainly exported to Europe and Asia as fresh, chilled or frozen whole eel. Some smoked eel is sold on the domestic market.
World production is declining and demand is growing. This is leading to increasing interest in intensive cultivation.41 A limitation could be the sustainability of the ranching aspect of production - the availability of glass eels and elvers is not unlimited.
There is no current intensive production of eels in commercial quantities in Australia.42 Most of Victoria's production is from the extensive systems described above, in which wild elvers and sub-adults are released into lakes or wetlands and left to grow to marketable size under natural conditions. Additional elvers are imported from Tasmania for this purpose.43 These managed fisheries are a low-cost form of ranching or aquaculture. There are 18 commercial fishery licences for eel fishing in Victoria. 44
Eels Australis Pty Ltd described its production system in western Victoria in its submission to the Inquiry.45 The company nets eels in lakes that it stocks annually, as well as other small lakes and dams that have wild populations of eels. The company value-adds to its product by limited processing.
Technology for intensive aquaculture production of short-finned and long-finned eels is being tested through a collaboration of State fisheries agencies and the Fish Research Development Corporation. Victoria is testing production from elvers.46 The market niche for intensively cultivated eels has yet to be determined. Greatest potential appears to be for small eels for the Japanese market and value-adding through local processing. 47
Eel production tends to be a vertically integrated business. Processing may be minimal preparation for transport - grading and freezing the entire fish or gutting and freezing.48 Cultivation of eels can build on well-established overseas technology, experience gained through the present Victorian production and an established market.
Industry Strengths and Challenges
The industry, though fairly small, provides a valuable product with a ready and expanding market. The current extensive ranching systems are relatively low cost and do not place producers in an excessively vulnerable financial situation.
Eel netting creates a by-catch of other aquatic species and water birds. However, one eel business has modified its nets to reduce such by-catch - it considers that this improved technology may make a case for wider access to wild eel populations.49
Wild-harvesting is limited by supply and access to the resource, however the breeding of eels in captivity has not proved possible to date. Moreever, the sustainable limits to the taking of glass eels and elvers for stocking is not known. It is important that both the current ranching system and more intensive cultivation be kept below a level that threatens these stocks or associated aspects of the eel's habitat. Sustainable limits are likely to restrict expansion of the industry.50 However, research into more intensive systems is being undertaken by the Marine and Freshwater Resources Institute.
Greater effort may be needed to expand the market as production increases.
