May not affect some of you directly, but its worth bearing in mind if you decide to take an eel for the pot/bait/kill it...
"The SFCA has recently be made aware that in August 2008 the Marine Directorate of the Scottish Government joined its European partners in introducing a protection order on the European Eel (Anguilla Anguilla). This protection order requires anyone fishing for eels to obtain a licence to do so from the Scottish Government. The protection order has been introduced to try to reverse the dramatic decline in the eel population that has taken place over the past 30 years. Unfortunately, while the protection order was aimed at controlling the commercial eeling industry it does not exclude recreational anglers. This leaves a situation where anglers caught with eels in their possession without a licence could be liable for prosecution. For the purpose of clarification, having eels retained in a keepnet could be considered as having them in your possession. The SFCA has made representation to the Marine Directorate that eels are often caught by coarse anglers whilst legitimately persuing other species. They have undertaken to review the Protection Order as soon as is practical with a view to excluding recreational angling. In the meantime, to ensure that none of our members are acting illegally or can be accused of doing so, the SFCA is introducing the following rules to all of its competitions and is encouraging all clubs and individual anglers to do the same:Further information on the Protection Order will be published on this website as soon as the new Order comes into force."
