September 16, 2009 - As the summer has come to an end, so has our sampling on the juvenile American Eels (elvers). We are currently analyzing our results and also preparing to work on the final report. The title of the project is “Estimating Relative Abundance of Juvenile American Eel (Elvers) in Gespe’gewa’gi (present day Miramichi River, New Brunswick area to southern parts of Quebec’s Gaspe Peninsula)”.

We found a total of 41 elvers for all three communities. 29 elvers were found in Eel River Bar, 12 in Pabineau, and 0 were found in Listuguj. This does not mean elvers do not exist in Listuguj, it just means we may not have found the right spot to place our habitat traps.

The American Eel is listed under the COSEWIC status as a species of special concern. COSEWIC stands for Committee On The Status Of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. The ‘special concern’ listing is because of the recent decline in populations in Lake Ontario, the upper St. Lawrence, and some rivers and streams in Atlantic Canada. The reason for the listing is because it may become threatened or become an endangered species, as a result of a combination of biological characteristics and indentified threats such as habitat losses, dams, turbines and water quality degradation. But because not much is known about the presence or abundance of juvenile eels in this area, GMRC decided to look into this.

This project was developed to gather data about the abundance of the baby eels (elvers) in the southern Gulf of the St. Lawrence region, specifically from our three member communities of Listuguj, Eel River Bar, and Pabineau. The information gathered from this research will help us enhance our understanding of the juvenile eels, since very little is presently known about them.

There are very few studies that focus on elver migration into the region. More information in this region regarding the elvers will help address some of the gaps in information regarding the potential recruitment of the elvers into fresh water systems and some of their habitats. Understanding the carrying capacity and the habitats will in turn lay the groundwork for future policies to protect eel habitats and the American Eel.

We were also fortunate enough to have a volunteer help us out this summer. Her name was Misty Barnaby. Misty came to us asking if there was anything she could help out with. As we were working on our elver project, we invited her along to come and observe and get a hands-on experience working in the field. Misty came along with us to all three communities twice a week and assisted in checking all our habitat traps.

We also did water quality measurements such as dissolved oxygen levels, pH readings, water temperature, salinity, and the conductivity of the water. When the elvers were caught, we sedated them so that we could quickly measure the length and look at their pigment stage. Once the elvers were back in the water, they quickly regained consciousness and went back to swimming happily. She was a pleasure to have and great help! I hope she learned a lot with volunteering her time with us.