S10046

The New York State Senate passed legislation amending the Environmental Conservation Law to authorize DEC protection and management of the American eel and other species, with a vote of 59-1 on Calendar Number 958 (S10046). Sen. May spoke passionately in support, recounting the eel's historical significance to the Haudenosaunee, whose oral tradition held that eels were once so abundant in Onondaga Lake that one could walk across the water on them. She noted that one of the nine clans of the Six Nations is named the Eel Clan in honor of the species' importance as a food source. May explained that American eels spawn in the Sargasso Sea and once migrated up the East Coast to the St. Lawrence River and into Lake Ontario, sometimes remaining in freshwater for up to 30 years before returning to spawn. She credited the state DEC with protecting the now-threatened species. Sen. Skoufis cast the sole dissenting vote, but clarified his opposition was not to eel regulation itself. Rather, he objected to the legislative practice of splitting fish and wildlife authorizations into separate bills, saying he preferred a consolidated approach. The bill takes effect immediately.