Overview
- Angler Ben Gorashchenko caught an American eel in the Chicago River on May 4 near the Riverwalk by Grand Avenue, photographed it, then released it.
- Researchers say it is only the second documented eel caught there in recent years, and a local river group says such finds line up with cleaner water and more fish species now present.
- Biologists outline two natural routes for the fish, either up the Mississippi system from the Atlantic or through the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes, though a human release also remains possible.
- American eels spawn in the Sargasso Sea and can live for decades in rivers before returning to the ocean, yet dams, locks, and electric barriers now block or harm migrating fish and have driven declines.
- Standard daytime surveys often miss eels that hide in bottom sediment and move at night, so more angler reports could prompt targeted sampling and reveal whether any are living in the river.