Man loses bid to have eel declared endangered

The federal government declared yesterday that eels are not an endangered species, rebuffing a two-year quest by a janitor-cum-conservationist from Middleborough to prove that the slimy creatures are on a fast path to extinction.

Timothy A. Watts, 46, petitioned the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 2004 to give eels federal protection, which would have forced states and companies that use waterways to take dramatic measures to protect freshwater eels.

But after a review of eel populations from Greenland to Brazil, the agency said yesterday that "while the eel population has declined in some areas, the species' overall population is not in danger of extinction or likely to become so in the foreseeable future."

Watts called the ruling "unfortunate for the eel" and said he would contemplate legal action to force the agency's hand. He said that the eel gets a bad rap, with more attention and care focused on warmer, fuzzier creatures.

"There's no more amazing critter than the eel," he said in a telephone interview yesterday. "It's certainly not a glamorous specie. It's one of those funny animals that we take for granted."

There is no dispute that the eel population has declined recently. No detailed studies have been done in New England, but scientists have found that the eel population has dropped by 99 percent in Europe and parts of Canada and by 80 percent in Japan.

Scientists believe that the major culprits are pollution, changing ocean currents and, in particular, dams, which can disrupt the eel life cycle. All freshwater eels in the Western Hemisphere originate in the Sargasso Sea, a submerged expanse of algae near Bermuda. Currents carry baby eels to North America or Europe, where they swim up rivers to live. After decades, they must return to the Sargasso Sea to breed. Dams can block migration, and turbines can injure or kill eels.

Several years ago, Watts, an avid fisherman from youth, began noticing eel carcasses in a river near his home. His brother, Doug, a freelance journalist in Maine, was already active in conservation. Watts, a janitor at Stonehill College in Easton, had found a cause, eventually petitioning the government under the Endangered Species Act.

"It doesn't require any great intellect to do it, by any means," he said. "We put significant time and effort into this stuff."

In its ruling, the US government found the dip in eel numbers was probably not permanent.

"The eel population as a whole shows significant resiliency," said Heather Bell, a US Fish and Wildlife Service biologist in Hadley. "A decreasing number of eels right now does not necessarily forecast an irreversible trend."

Nonetheless, the agency said that it would suggest methods to ensure that eels are protected.

Raja Mishra can be reached at rmishra@globe.com.