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Press, Volume CXV, Issue 34022, 11 December 1975, Page 16

(Lake Ellesmere eels are going on a forced migration from New Zealand to Europe a little earlier this year, be- ( cause of a strong demand from the Rome market. It is nothing to get excited about, local suppliers say. It happens every year, but this year the market in Rome seems to be booming as Christmas approaches. The photograph shows Mr M. L. Vogel, a packer, with some of the eels which will be exported live to Rome. The eels, some sources say, are ultimately chopped up and eaten with spaghetti. Others say that they do not know the details of the eels’ fate, but are happy about the export, orders. |Mr H. L. Shadbolt, of Independent Fisheries, Ltd,

said yesterday that an average of 500 tonnes of eels were taken from Lake Ellesmere each season for live or frozen export. The New Zealand eel was of very poor quality compared wnth the eels of other countries, but when overseas markets were undersupplied, the local variety was much in demand. Three suppliers contacted said that they had respective orders for 28, 24, and 20 tonnes a week; but one supplier said that these figures could be confusing. The orders might be duplicate ones, and they; could not always be; filled. Brambles Airfreight shipped! six tonnes of eels on| December 3 and another four tonnes on December 7, according to a spokesman.