BELFAST BRIEFING:IT IS a long and perilous journey from the warm waters of the Sargasso Sea to the relatively chilly confines of Lough Neagh in the heart of Northern Ireland.

But it is a journey that supports a multi-million pound enterprise and one that is currently under threat and facing an uncertain future.

The journey in question is undertaken every year by thousands of eels that leave their natural spawning ground southwest of Bermuda to make their way to various destinations in Europe.

One of these is Lough Neagh, which is home to Europe’s largest commercial wild eel fishery.

The fishery, on the river Bann at Toomebridge and Kilrea, plays a crucial role in the local economy and helps to provide an income for nearly 300 local families.

Eels caught in Northern Ireland are exported to London and across Europe, where they are considered a delicacy.

Although there is not a great deal of local demand for eels, they are particularly popular in Holland, where smoked eels feature heavily on many menus.

The Toomebridge fishery in the North, which is managed by a former parish priest, Rev Oliver P Kennedy, catches up to 500 tonnes of yellow eels each year and supports more than 100 fishing boats.

Eel fishing has been a way of life on Lough Neagh for generations of families who brave the elements, the danger and the daily challenges of a tough environment.

It is not for the faint hearted. Yellow eels are fished for in two-man boats which seem barely large enough to contend with the ever-present forces of nature.

The Lough Neagh and Lower Bann commercial eel fishery has been owned and managed by the Lough Neagh Fisherman’s Co-operative Society since 1971.

The majority of local fishermen hold shares in the society, which promotes long-term sustainability as its key aim.

The fishery delivers on average 25 per cent of the total European Union wild catch each year.

Fishermen use traditional long line and draft nets to catch the eels during the summer months. The official yellow eel season rarely continues past October because of adverse weather conditions.

One of the unique features of the Lough Neagh Fisherman’s Co-operative is that it markets the daily catch of yellow eels on a non-profit basis.

It can do this because the operation is supported by the profits that are made from the sale of silver eels, which are mature eels, later in the year.

Silver eels are only caught in the autumn and in winter and at only two sites in the North – Toome and Kilrea.

They have a notoriously difficult reputation because silver eels do not migrate in daylight or in bright moonlight, so many fishermen stay out all night on the lough in order to make a living.

This traditional way of life in Northern Ireland, which is also a multi-million pound a year industry, is now under threat because of a rapid decline in European eel stocks.

The key problem is an unexplained and dramatic decline in the annual glass or elver eel (baby eel) populations.

Changes in ocean climate, habitat loss and pollution have been blamed for the decline, but without drastic action there is no potential for a recovery of elver numbers.

The European Commission has asked all member states to develop eel management plans that will ensure that at least 40 per cent of the potential production of adult eels returns to the sea to spawn.

Northern Ireland has submitted three eel management plans for its three river basin districts, the North East, Neagh Bann and the North West.

These plans are likely to have a dramatic impact on the industry and employment numbers in the North.

One of the immediate casualties of the management plan is the eel fishery on Lough Erne, which is facing imminent closure.

The commission is expected to take a decision on Northern Ireland’s three eel management plans later this month.

Until then, traditional brown eel fishing will be allowed to continue on Lough Erne, but after that a historic way of life will end in the North.

Because conservation targets are already being met in the Neagh Bann district, which includes the Lough Neagh fishery, it will escape most of the fall-out from any European ruling on future eel fishing.

But the Lough Neagh fishery and the people whose livelihoods depend on its success are facing a challenges that could threaten its survival in the long term.

Fr Kennedy said the co-operative has purchased elvers from its own resources to restore the natural balance in the Lough.

But this is an expensive option and it is seeking financial assistance from the North’s Executive to support this programme.

Fr Kennedy has also raised concerns about water quality in Northern Ireland and the impact of pollution on the eel industry.

If future generations in the North are to continue the proud tradition of eel fishing then it may be time for Northern Ireland and the EU to put something back into these communities.