Changes In Ocean in Sargasso Sea- Potential Cause for Decline in Eel Fishery

American eels are fast disappearing as stocks have declined sharply across the North Atlantic. While the reasons for the eel decline remain as mysterious as its long migrations, a recent study by a NOAA scientist and colleagues in Japan and the United Kingdom says shifts in ocean-atmosphere conditions may be a primary factor in declining reproduction and survival rates.

“Although many aspects of spawning and early life history of this species are poorly understood, they are clearly adapted to grow in the low productivity waters of the Sargasso Sea south of Bermuda,”...