[yummypaint]

Historically eels were ubiquitous in the British isles, but not totally trivial to procure. Showing up with a stick of eels to your local market was basically proof-of-work. Since everyone else was also catching eels in similar conditions, there was immediate shared understanding of their value without having to trust any outside authority.

[ehecatl42]

Not any more. They are a critically endangered species.

I grew up in the 80s, mid-way along the length of the Severn, and have very strong memories of night "fishing" for eels with my father. IIRC, the preferred method was a tangled mass of wire and standard fishing line and as many worms as we could dig up, placed in a weighted hessian sack, with holes therein. Then it was just a question of waiting. Eels went in; they could not come out.

I suppose in some small way I've contributed to their catastrophic decline. I honestly feel some guilt for that.

[dendrite9]

I wonder if any part of that was related to the fact that nobody knows how to raise eels. Or even at that time they might not have known where baby eels came from.