The 2003 Quebec Declaration of Concern About Eel Declines-11 Years Later: Are Eels Climbing Back up the Slippery Slope?

In 2003, scientists gathered at the American Fisheries Society meeting in Québec and raised an urgent alarm in a Declaration of Concern about the state of eel stocks around the world, with less than 1% of juvenile resources remaining (as documented for northern temperate stocks). In the years since, precautionary protective measures have been implemented, monitoring and research have increased, and sustainable management methods have been developed. Recently, several juvenile resources have increased slightly. Reassembled in Québec in 2014, we reflect on what has been achieved since 2003 and what remains to be done.