Our Fyke Net helps us monitor American eel populations traveling up stream from Long Island Sound.
Check out this up-close look at an American eel in the glass eel stage of its life cycle!
Some fun eel facts!
American eels are born as eggs in the middle of the Sargasso Sea BUT it is a mystery where exactly these wriggly friends are born.
After the eggs hatch, the larvae begin their journey to either America or Europe. By the time they reach the coast, they are in the glass eel stage named for their translucent appearance.
American eels begin their life in salt water but travel to fresh water as they develop. They are actually America's only freshwater eel. We are lucky enough to see the swimming upstream from the Long Island Sound in the Blind Brook’s brackish water (a mix of salt and fresh water).
They may spend 20+ years living in freshwater ponds, streams, and rivers before migrating back to the Sargasso Sea to find the same mysterious breeding grounds where they were born.
We use our fyke net (a net used to catch fish) to help monitor the eel population and migration patterns. In 2019, the Blind Brook was the only monitoring site that is not found along the Hudson River!