EVALUATION OF THE POSSIBILITIES FOR REESTABLISHING NATURAL MIGRATION OF EELS (ANGUILLA ANGUILLA) THROUGH ARTIFICIAL PASSAGES-BIOCORRIDORS AND REPOPULATION OF LAKE OHRID

摘要

The construction of Globocica, the one out of six dams created many problems for the Ohrid eel, whose route of migration was severed, even though the technical characteristics of the dams both in Macedonia and Albania had planned for a regular artificial introduction of the lake and maintenance of the fish population. Another five dams were constructed in the seventies and the eighties of the XX century out of which one was in Macedonia and four were in Albania. That even worsened the already desperate situation of the eel. There is an agreement, which was made by the Electric Power Company (ESM) for re-population of eel into the lake. However, the results of the process undertaken "every season" are partial and the impact of human intervention on the lake Eco-system stays yet unknown. After thirty years the greed for energy and profits has left the eel in subdued situation, even though they are an essential part of the biodiversity of Lake Ohrid. The aim of this multidisciplinary study is to revive the natural migration routes of the eel and to return this very important brace back to the Eco-system chain of the oldest European Lake. As a fact, this project won the first prize of the Henry Ford European Foundation for Conservation in 1999.