During the winter months (December - March), CRD personnel participate in collecting data associated with recruitment of American eel young of the year into Georgia’s territorial waters. 

A catadromous species, the American eel is known to migrate to and spawn in the Sargasso Sea, located between Bermuda and the Bahamas. Once spawning has occurred in the Sargasso, the adult male and female are believed to die, and the spawned larvae, known as leptocephali, are carried and randomly distributed via winds, currents, etc. along the coastal waters of North America. 

By the time these juveniles reach the coastal waters of Georgia, they enter the estuarine rivers as sexually undifferentiated eels referred to as “elvers / glass eels.” After entering these estuarine rivers, migration towards the lower salinities associated with inland creeks, rivers, and lakes occurs and is accompanied by the development of pigmentation or coloring of the skin. With pigmentation developing, it is during this stage, known as the “yellow eel” stage, that eels experience most of their physical growth and maturation. Yellow eels will remain in this growth stage until sexual maturity is reached, which may be upwards of 40 years. Sexual maturation marks the beginning of the spawning migration downstream to the Atlantic Ocean and to the subsequent spawning areas within the Sargasso Sea.  

Information collected from this recruitment survey is provided to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) for incorporation into stock assessment so as to insure compliance with the interstate fishery management plan for American eel.