Louis Tremblay

but they need to be able to migrate back to the sea to be able to reproduce and then coming back.

So, you know, things like fish barriers and hydro power schemes, all these things are sort of what I would call multiple stressful situations that sort of put pressure on them.

And because they live for so long and then they have such a complex life cycle,

That makes them quite vulnerable.

And then the elephant in the room that we haven't really mentioned is, you know, the increasing impacts of climate change.

You see those major events of flooding.

So whenever you have events like this, it brings a whole bunch of contaminants into their rivers and the environment where they live.

On the opposite, you know, you have long drought events that raises temperatures.

And so all these things, when you combine them, it can put a lot of pressure on their fitness and put them over the line.

Well, it really is a sign that the pressures that putting on our ecosystems are starting to have an effect.

And my big worry is that obviously the eels are the top predators, but what's happening to those other fish and the other species within those ecosystems that make it a functional ecosystem?

Because if you have a robust ecosystem, it can deal with changes.

However, if you start seeing your top predators going belly up,

So that's not a good sign for the overall health of our ecosystems.

And it really is an indicator that our land-based practices need to be better managed to reduce those pressures on our ecosystem.

Because we don't want to be in a situation where we lose those species because then they can never recover.

When they're gone, they're gone.