Understanding the decline in anguillid eels Introduction

This symposium issue of the ICES Journal of Marine Science contains 16 contributions from the second International Eels Symposium held during the American Fisheries Society (AFS) Annual Meeting (August 2014, Quebec City, Canada). This symposium followed the first International Eels Symposium held in 2003, which emphasized the international scope of the Anguilla conservation problem. This second symposium reviewed a decade of research on biology and life history, genetics and genomics, reproduction, oceanic biology, early life history, population dynamics, assessment and management, eel passage at hydroelectric facilities, stocking, and threats, focusing primarily on Atlantic anguillids. The symposium finished with a panel discussion that emphasized the need to develop inter-jurisdictional governance approaches for panmictic eels as a way to promote recovery of the various species.