Vanessa Becker Hughes is the founder of the Somerset Eel Recovery Project. As we walk along the riverbank at the confluence of the Tone and Parrett near Burrow Mump we discuss the mysteries of eels, who begin and end their lives in the Sargasso Sea on the far side of the Atlantic, yet need to find their way back to a stream or waterway near you.
Vanessa went eel fishing as a child with her grandfather and now inspires and educates people to help eels (now on the ‘red list’ for species in danger of extinction) and connect to nature through building a relationship with them. SERP’s work includes bringing tanks of glass eels into classrooms and making straw ropes that help young eels climb up the many river barriers that currently cut them off from their homes.
