— 20Q — 



Tho ascent of the young eels is also known at the Eider. Regarding this von 

 Stem ANN writes; "every year in the period from the end of April to the end of June 

 great masses of young eels appear in the Eider at Rendsburg, which collect in thick 

 shoals at the barrier accross the upper Eider, where they make every possible endeavour 

 to surmount the hindrance. The first specimens appear in April, though only a tew; the 

 cold weather has obviously detained them hitherto as the ascent has not yet taken place 

 and only begins when the large shoals appear. When the current is weak, the run is 

 broad, but as soon as a strong race from a mill is met with, it becomes narrower and 

 presses in towards the bank in order to overcome the stream." To make the ascent of 

 the young eels from the lower to the upper Eider easier, v. Stemann has caused an eel- 

 ladder strewn with gravel to be erected at Rendsburg. The ascent of the elvers has also 

 been observed on the Baltic coasts of Germany. Thus Möbius and Heincke' state that: 

 "in spring the young eels come in shoals from the sea and run up the rivers. From 

 Kiel Bay they ascend in April and May into the Eider Canal and into the Schwentine." 



Dr. Ludwig Brühl of Berlin in answer to my enquiry has sent me the following inform- 

 ation with regard to the ascent on the German coasts: (l) "Ein Fischmeister am Kurischen 

 Haff in der Nähe von Memel hat mir mitgeteilt, er habe den Aufstieg von Aalmontée im 

 Kurischen Hafï Ende Juni vor einer Reihe von Jahren beobachtet." (2) "Eine Rückfrage 

 bei Herrn Regierungsrath Dr. W. Dröscher, dem Vorsitzenden des Mecklenburgischen 

 Fischerei-Vereins in Schwerin in M., hat ergeben, dass Aalmontée bei Boizenburg an der 

 Elbe in der zweiten Hälfte des Juni, je nach der Witterung, erscheint und sich auch bald 

 in den zur Elbe fliessenden Nebenflüssen, insbesondere in der Schale, zeigt." 



I have been unable to find further reports on the ascent of the young eels on the 

 German coasts in the literature, and it surprises me not to find more as we should ex- 

 pect that the ascent must often have been observed both on the North Sea and Western 

 Baltic coasts. 



Norway. According to O. Nordgaard (Norsk Fiskeritid. 1897, p. 466) the ascent of 

 the elvers (length 66 — 74 mm.) took place at Bergen in 1897 as early as the end of 

 April, even on April 20th. R. Collett (Meddel. om Norges Fiske i Aarene 1884—1901, 

 p. 41— 42, 1905) says generally, that a large number of the tiny fry (glass-eels, montée, 

 elvers) ascend yearly from the fjords or margin of the sea in the rivers to the lakes 

 lying nearest the sea. The average length of these elvers is from 65—80 mm. and the 

 majority of them belong to the first ascending years group ; yet some of the younger 

 and earlier individuals of older years' groups, which have passed the first year in the sea, 

 also take part in the ascent. "This ascent of tiny eel-fry takes place along the whole 

 coast from the southernmost parts of the land to as far up as Lofoten at least, thus from 

 the innermost parts of the Skager Rak basin as from the open sea at 69° N. L. (or even 

 further north). Future investigations will therefore possibly show, that the eel has its 

 spawning grounds in the deep water at various points off our coasts. The ascent begins 

 (at the southern and southwestern coasts of the land) sometimes even at the end of 

 April, goes on chiefly in May, and is continued often even in June or still later.". . . 

 "A remarkable and normal ascent of elvers in the autumn takes place at the foot of 

 Sarpfossen in August and September. According to Dr. Huitfeldt-Kaas the first elvers 



I K, MÖEIUS & Fr. Heincke, Die Fische der Ostsee (4. Ber. d. Commission zur Wissensch. Untersuch, d. 

 deut-schen Meere in Kiel fiir die Jahre 1S77— 81, VII— XI Jahrg. 1S84, S. 268). 



=7 



