When I was a boy we enjoyed fishing in the Hudson and along Murderers Creek in Athens.
We never wanted to catch an eel. As a matter of fact, we hated catching one. They were slimy, a little snake-like, often twisted around our fishing line and difficult to get off the hook. We always threw them back in the water.
I must admit I have never given any thought to the life cycle of eels. That all changed a few weeks ago when I received the Winter 2020 “Conservation Capsules” newsletter from the Greene Land Trust, which contained an interesting article titled “Eels in the Hudson River.”
The adult eel, the kind you may be familiar with, lays her eggs in the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic Ocean. The eggs hatch into a larval form, which are carried by ocean currents to the coast of North America. Eventually the larvae become juvenile glass eels and tidal currents carry them into our rivers, including the Hudson. At this point they are about two and a half inches long. According to the Trust writer: “The eels undergo two more metamorphose before maturity. For males this takes 10 to 12 years; for females it takes 20 years or longer.”
So where is the history angle? Apparently eel fishing was important in the 19th century. The article quoted the July 17, 1891, “New York Herald,” as follows: “Thousands of eels are caught in the Hudson in eel pots by a company of Italians, who have a large fishing plant… Hudson River eels are sold for about twelve cents a pound. They are easily recognized by their petroleum flavor, getting the odor from the bottom of the river.”
Petroleum flavor? Isn’t that a bad thing? Apparently not for some folks. Wikipedia says this: “Petroleum-like flavors have been widely reported to occur in fish, but frequently when such flavors are further investigated they are found to be derived not from any petroleum precursor but rather from some alteration in naturally occurring components of the fish.” Another source has this to say about the taste of eel: “The taste of eel meat is light, yet sweet, and the texture is soft but firm enough so you can have a nice chew on it. Some say it is kind of like salmon, lobster or octopus meat, but more delicate and tasteful.”
Fast forward a couple of decades and the article cites the Sept. 10. 1915 “Catskill Recorder” as follows: “Gradually the Hudson River production of eels has decreased from year to year until this season fishermen failed to get enough to buy bait for traps and lines. The rod fisherman this year also had extremely bad luck. The whole amount of the matter was that eels were not there.” The article goes on to blame river pollution as the culprit.
Greene County plays an important part in 21st century eel monitoring. Since 2008, the DEC has been monitoring eel populations in tributaries of the Hudson. One such site is the Hannacroix Creek in New Baltimore. According to the Greene Land Trust, 156,460 glass eels were caught there in 2019 and released back into the stream. This was the highest number of any of the 13 sampling sites. The Trust also says the glass eel population is rising, although well below its historic levels.
If I ever catch an eel again, I won’t be so quick to dismiss it and may even see how it tastes.
Reach columnist David Dorpfeld at gchistorian@gmail.com or visit him on Facebook at “Greene County Historian.”
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