Seventy European eels have been released back into the Mar Menor lagoon in south-east Spain as part of a long-term conservation effort. The project is being led by environmental group ANSE, working alongside WWF and the San Pedro del Pinatar Fishermen’s Guild. Each eel has been tagged so researchers can monitor its movements and survival.

The release followed the end of the winter eel fishing season on January fifteen. Fishing in the Mar Menor is tightly controlled, with limited seasons and a maximum annual catch, after eel numbers fell sharply over recent decades. The European eel is now listed as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Researchers say coastal lagoons like the Mar Menor provide calm, safe waters where eels can feed and grow before beginning their long migration. Using tags and acoustic transmitters, scientists have already tracked some adult eels leaving the lagoon on a journey of around six thousand kilometres to the Sargasso Sea.

The situation has become so serious that experts are recommending zero eel catches in twenty twenty-six. Recreational fishing is already banned, and professional fishing in the Mediterranean faces extended closures as conservationists try to prevent the species from disappearing entirely.