Overview
- Angler Ben Gorashchenko, who landed the fish on Monday, May 4 near the Riverwalk by Grand Avenue, photographed the American eel and released it.
- Researchers say the find is exceptionally rare in the city, with only one other documented catch in recent years, reported in 2017.
- American eels hatch in the Sargasso Sea and can travel thousands of miles into rivers, sometimes slipping past locks, dams and electric barriers built to control species movement.
- Scientists offered possibilities for how it arrived, from a long route through the St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes to a human release such as a former pet, with no confirmed origin.
- State biologists note routine daytime surveys often miss nocturnal, bottom-dwelling eels, and local advocates say rising species counts suggest improving river health.