Abstract
As in many other parts of the world, eels and their mysterious life cycle have always fascinated Danes. Almost everyone in Denmark, no matter their age, knows something about eels. In fact, the eel was once one of the country’s most important food fish, and Denmark itself was one of the main European nations fishing it, partly because of the seasonal abundance of migrating silver eels leaving the Baltic Sea through the narrow Straits of Denmark. Eels were fished year-round even during winter (Fig. 3.1). Although the Danish eel fishery was carried out mainly by smallholders, eels were for many years traded extensively with other European countries. Today, though, fisheries for eels are limited by low abundance and consequently restrictive laws.
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Notes
- 1.
Selected passages from the Danish newspaper article “The Dana returns home after two-year voyage”, issued in “Politiken” 1 July 1930, translated into English by Pete Westbrook, then paraphrased.
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Acknowledgements
Maria Krüger-Johnsen and Lilian H. Andersen, DTU Aqua, collected information and photographs from archives, museums and researchers for the Eels and Humans exhibition in Tokyo that pre-dated production of the book and this chapter, and Sune Riis Sørensen, DTU Aqua, provided photos and videos for the exhibition and for this chapter. We also thank Søren Byskov, Fisheries and Maritime Museum, Esbjerg, Denmark, for providing information on historical fishing gear and tools, as well as artefacts for the exhibition, and Annette Jensen, Danish State Archives, for organizing and lending logbooks and letters pertinent to Johannes Schmidt’s work. Photographs were provided by Thomas Højrup (Fig. 3.1), Rikke Johansen, the Viking Ship Museum, Roskilde, Denmark, Ingo Eichelberger and Robert Schabetsberger, Austria, guest editor Mari Kuroki, Claes Bech-Poulsen and Merete Ettrup. Last but not least, we thank Inge and Jan Boëtius for inspiring discussions and perspectives of the past.
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Rindom, S. et al. (2014). Eels in Culture, Fisheries and Science in Denmark. In: Tsukamoto, K., Kuroki, M. (eds) Eels and Humans. Humanity and the Sea. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-54529-3_3
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