The accolade is shared by Champagne grapes and Parma ham
The UK’s most slippery export
canada goose coats Ten men are waiting in a cavernous warehouse on the northwestern tip of Lough Neagh, Northern Ireland. A small truck carrying several tanks pulls canada goose outlet winnipeg address up. As the first tank is spilled out, water and a mass of wriggling eels flood down a chute and the workers quickly begin sorting them. canada goose coats
Canada Goose Jackets The very look of an eel actually turns some people off. They squirm at the idea of it Canada Goose Jackets
The men job is to spot any eels that are too small: canada goose jacket outlet store less than 40cm in canada goose outlet toronto location length. These weedy specimens are quickly flicked off the chute and allowed to writhe through a grate on the floor below. From there they may swim back out into the lough, free to live canada goose parka outlet uk another day.
Canada Goose online The eels are black, shiny, and full of vigour. The Irish poet Seamus Heaney described them as sinewed slime in a canada goose outlet phone number tribute to the fishermen of Lough Neagh, who have been working the lough (Irish for lake) for centuries. Canada Goose online
very look of an eel actually turns some people off, says Pat Close, chairman of the Lough Neagh fishermen co canada goose outlet in new york operative. squirm at the idea of it handling or eating it. Not only are the eels delicious when smoked, but thanks to the special quality of the fish in this region, the EU awarded them Protected Geographic Indicator (PGI) status.
Even so, these eels are among Northern Ireland greatest agricultural prizes. The lake has Europe largest wild caught eel fishery. And not only are the eels delicious when smoked, but thanks to the special quality of the fish in this region, the European Union awarded them Protected Geographic Indicator (PGI) status in 2011. The accolade is shared by Champagne grapes and Parma ham.
And like those foodstuffs, eels aren cheap. Packs of smoked eels are being sold for much more than a packet of the more common delicacy smoked salmon, which might set you back a fiver at most. More reasonable prices might be available in restaurants which buy in bulk.
View image of Workers sort any eels that are too small: less than 40cm. (Credit: Chris Baraniuk)
canada goose store Lough Neagh eels, too, have a historic canada goose outlet germany pedigree. can look at lists of boat owners today and see the same family names canada goose outlet that were in records 60 or 70 years ago, says Close, who has worked at the eel fishery for more than 28 years. In fact, archaeological evidence suggests that people were fishing for and eating eels in what is now Northern Ireland as much canada goose outlet store uk as 6,000 years ago. canada goose store
Yet other than the families who live on the shores of the lough, and in areas like canada goose outlet toronto address the East End of London where jellied eel and eel pies were once popular, British people have never been very enthusiastic about eels. Of the 400 tonnes of fish produced annually at Lough Neagh, most is exported to Germany and the Netherlands; in total, 80% of the fishery eels end up on the European continent.
canada goose While there is demand for eels, especially from mainland Europe, it has been gradually falling. Worse, stocks of European eel the species fished here still haven recovered from a population crash that happened in the 1980s. canada goose
View image of A seaside canada goose outlet in uk favourite at Weston super Mare, Somerset, in canada goose outlet new york the canada goose outlet authentic UK (Credit: Alamy)
canada goose deals The European eel spawns in the North Atlantic, migrating as a juvenile to inland canada goose outlet store calgary freshwater systems like Lough Neagh. That migration into the freshwater system is known as A decrease in canada goose outlet store near me recruitment numbers, of course, means fewer eels at Lough Neagh and that exactly what happened in 1982. canada goose deals
1982, we recruited 11 million which was bang on target, says Close. following year it dropped to three quarters of a million. Obviously the hope at that time was it was some sort of temporary blip. But sadly, canada goose outlet canada history now shows that it was anything but. crash was witnessed at fisheries across Europe. The last time population numbers dipped on the same scale was in the canada goose outlet florida early 1900s; no one knows what caused either of these events. Some researchers have queried the role of pollutants, over fishing in some areas and the effect of hydroelectric dams the dams can kill huge numbers of eels.
Canada Goose sale There is also a climate based theory. In a cyclical weather system called the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), storms and depressions can change direction either from north to south, or vice versa as they cross the North Atlantic towards Europe. Eels are highly sensitive to pressure changes like these, and the timing fits: there is some evidence that the canada goose outlet ontario NAO follows a 60 to 80 year cycle much like the El Ni oscillation in the Pacific may observe an interval of seven or eight years. What effect this has on eels, though, and whether it accounts for the population crashes of the early 1900s and 1980s, is difficult to say. Canada Goose sale
canadian goose jacket View image canada goose outlet online uk of Hungry customers at Manze Eel, Pie and Mash shop canada goose outlet official in London, UK (Credit: Alamy) canadian goose jacket
cheap Canada Goose In an effort to safeguard the Lough Neagh population, the fishery has since 1984 been manually recruiting canada goose uk young eels, known as elvers, from other ecosystems. cheap Canada Goose
Canada Goose Outlet It has also been working to establish conservation techniques with the help of Derek Evans of Belfast Agri Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI). Canada Goose Outlet
canada goose black friday sale Evans and some PhD students recently developed a method of surgically attaching electronic, acoustic tags to the eels to track how many progress out canada goose outlet online of the system in later life to breed. In one experiment they tagged 60 individuals at a cost of $46,000. As a result, they were able to listen out for radio designed to be unique to each canada goose factory outlet vancouver eel, at a series of listening stations around the lough. Some of the fish were even picked up later during their migration at a listening station for tagged salmon near Donegal. canada goose black friday sale
buy canada goose jacket There is also the threat of a suspected black market trade to countries like China. Under current EU rules, the export of European eels to Asia http://www.mycanadagoosejacket.org is banned. buy canada goose jacket
buy canada goose jacket cheap The fishery also now has strict quotas on when and how fishing can take place. None is allowed on canada goose outlet miami the weekend, for example, and fishermen aren allowed to bring up lines or nets that were set the previous day before 4:30am. The co operative also sets a daily weight limit on the amount of fish that may be landed. The ultimate goal is to have at least 40% the number of canada goose outlet mississauga mature, silver eels which migrate back out of the system to the Atlantic. In recent years, the fishery has been able to meet this target. buy canada goose jacket cheap
Canada Goose Parka View image of Fillets of eel are still pricier than salmon for fish lovers (Credit: Chris Baraniuk) Canada Goose Parka
canada goose clearance The European eel is actually listed as critically canada goose discount uk endangered by the International Union of Conservation for Nature (IUCN). But Close argues that if it weren for farming with fisheries championing responsible fishery canada goose outlet boston plans, including re stocking in key areas and constant monitoring of the eels health, the animals might be even worse off. canada goose clearance
There is also the threat of a suspected black market trade to countries like China. Under current EU rules, the export of European eels to Asia is banned. But given the sheer size of the market there for the fish, this may ironically be encouraging black market activity and hampering the canada goose outlet real efforts of trustworthy fisheries, Close says. we were able to get a better return canada goose factory outlet toronto location for our fish, we could afford to invest more money in restocking, he explains.
In the last two months, the fishery has been marketing a high end smoked eel product buy canada goose uk to sell within the UK
For now, the co operative is hoping that recognition of its conservation efforts and perhaps some long overdue affection for a local product can help raise the eels profile.
canada goose coats on sale View image of Catch of the day is canada goose outlet location quickly sorted (Credit: Chris Baraniuk) canada goose coats on sale
In the last two months, the fishery has been marketing a high end smoked eel product to sell within the UK. Developed in conjunction with a small business smoker at the southern end of the lough in Craigavon, the process requires that the eels are smoked for six hours at a time at a low temperature which allows them to retain their oil and develop a buttery flavour.
