This spring, the Environmental Board approved introducing 1.3 million glass eels, or juvenile eels, into various inland bodies of water.

Stocking is funded via fishing rights fees distributed through the Environmental Investment Centre (KIK).

Herki Tuus, head of fisheries management at the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture, said eel numbers also depend on market price.

"If they're cheaper, more can be brought in," he said, "If not, the numbers are simply lower."

KIK allocated €123,000 this spring. Stocking is currently allowed in Võrtsjärv and lakes including Kuremaa, Saadjärv, Kaiavere and Vagula.

1 million eels on the way

Jaanika Kaljuvee, executive director of the nonprofit Võrtsjärve Kalanduspiirkond, said 408 kilograms of eels are en route from France, each kilo containing 2,000–3,000 juveniles.

Eels are stocked to maintain viable populations, as natural migration was blocked by the damming of the Narva River. Even in Lake Võrtsjärv, they do not reproduce naturally.

From next spring, the state will end public funding for small-lake stocking. At the ministry, Tuus said returns from fishing do not justify the cost, and small-lake fishers cannot cover it themselves.

Noting Võrtsjärv fishers already fund about 90 percent of eel stocking costs themselves through fishing rights fees, he added, "it's now a political choice whether to move toward 100 percent."

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