The Secret Life of Cape Cod Eels

Cape Cod News editorial staff

 Lower Cape TV enters the hidden world of eels — creatures who hatch in the Sargasso Sea and journey over 2,000 miles to Cape Cod

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"I would fish all over Cape Cod, I would use herring for bait ... I don't mind telling you the old secrets because it is an industry that is long gone ... they just aren't there ... "

James Harrington,
Fisherman

What is Cape Cod's relationship with the eel?

02 March 2024 - ORLEANS, MA - The Cape once held a robust eel population and an active eel fishing industry. Eel fishermen shipped their catch to markets in Germany and other international locations. In this special video exploration of a lesser known Cape Cod species, Lower Cape TV enters the hidden world of eels — creatures who hatch in the Sargasso Sea and travel to the Cape only to return to the same Sargasso Sea many years later to give birth at the end of their lives. Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries scientist Brad Chase and Cape fishermen share the American eel's unusual life cycle and its storied history in local waters.


What is the American Eel?

The American eel is a catadromous fish, which means it hatches in salt water and lives as an adult in fresh water. While its long snake-like body can be off-putting to some, Chase says the species has remarkable features, and that the flexible and adaptable eel inhabits more habitat in North American than any other fish.


Eels begin life as larvae in the Sargasso Sea and swim over 2,000 miles to Cape Cod as tiny translucent fish that can fit in the palm of a human hand, navigating by using the earth's magnetic fields. As they move closer to the coast, some move into fresh water to navigate into estuaries and ponds. At the end of their life, they return to the Sargasso Sea to lay eggs, which begin the next eel generation.

What makes the Eel unique?

In addition to their unique look and communication sounds, eels move from salt to fresh to salt water again over the course of their lives. They change color based on environmental cues, and the sex of the population adapts to population density. The less dense a population, the more young eels become female.  Their navigation system and ability to travel thousands of miles as tiny eels continues to fascinate researchers and for centuries the species created a source of food and commerce for Cape Cod, as well as food source for birds and mammals. The declining habitat health of estuaries and fresh water environments likely lie behind the current drop in eel populations.


What is potting eels?

People catch eel in several ways - from spearing to potting. Potting uses a trap to catch and store eels, similar to a lobster trap for trapping lobster.  Cape fishermen would often make their own pots. Scientists still pot eels in order to tag and track their population.

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