– The investigation has great scientific weight. We have brought in a number of international experts, says Anders Clarhäll, analyst at state-owned Formas.
The investigators disapprove of the Swedish eel administration. Too little is being done to stop the death of alders in the hydropower plants.
– The investigation underlines that the situation is urgent, says biologist Ingemar Alenäs, who read the reports.
– The Swedish ecosystems in our waters are much more dependent on the eel than we realised. There used to be large numbers of eels in Sweden’s freshwater.
Criticizes the government: “The eel is exterminated”
On average, 70 percent of the adult eels die – in every power plant. Not many of the spawning white eels from Sweden’s lakes and rivers reach the sea.
And the smattering of fry that still reach the Swedish coast, after drifting 700 miles with the Gulf Stream from the Sargasso Sea for two years, often meet their fate on a steep dam wall.
“It is therefore very important to find quick and comprehensive solutions that improve the eels’ opportunities for passage both upstream and downstream,” the investigation states.
The solution is natural fish ways, as well as diverting grids and escape routes at the power plants for the fish. But Uppdrag grunskning’s previous survey showed that leading power companies made effective measures at very few of their power plants. Sweden has just over 2,000 hydropower plants.
The government has also paused the ongoing environmental adaptation of hydropower.
– The government’s policy goes against the most important conclusion of this heavy investigation. The consequence will be that the eel becomes extinct, says Ingemar Alenäs.
The investigators criticize the Swedish strategy that the power companies release eels, wild-caught in England and France, to compensate for the death of eels in the power plants.
“The panel recommends that this ineffective program be terminated,” they write.
Phase out legal fishing
After hydropower, poaching is the biggest threat, according to the investigation. Who also believes that legal fishing should be completely phased out.
Biologist Ingemar Alenäs highlights that there are good solutions. As at the lowest power plant in Ätran, in Falkenberg. There, the old dried-up Hertingforsen was restored, and grates were put in front of the turbines. The power plant is still producing energy and the project has been assessed by the county board as economically viable.
– No more research is needed now. If you want to save the eel, all you have to do is get started. The Herting project shows that it works.