EELS and crayfish will be the subject of an unusual pair of talks being given in Dunster National Park Centre on Wednesday, November 26, at 6.30 pm.

The evening will be delivered by scientist Dr Nicky Green, who is Exmoor National Park Authority’s (ENPA) crayfish ecologist, with her colleague Vanessa Becker-Hughes.

ENPA’s crayfish group has been carrying out surveys of crayfish and eels on the River Avill, so the talk will have plenty of local interest.

They would like to engage with as many Exmoor residents as possible.

Ms Becker-Hughes will talk about the work of the Somerset Eel Recovery Project (SERP), while Dr Green will explain how eels could help control invasive crayfish on Exmoor.

Entry is free and tickets can be reserved online.

SERP has launched an ‘Eels in the Classroom’ project to take young eels, called elvers, into schools for children to care for them and learn about their epic lifecycle before releasing them into local rivers.

A spokesperson for SERP said: “Rather than focus on policies on an international scale which take a lifetime to get over the line, we are working with stakeholders in our local community to make a meaningful impact on European eel populations.

“Once plentiful across the Somerset Levels, this migratory fish is now registered as critically endangered throughout its range.

“We are working to change that.

“We aim to create a sustainable local ecosystem by actively investing in partnerships with schools, outreach at environmental conferences, and roundtable events with the power to bring conflicting stakeholders from the conservation, commercial fishing, flood defence, and green energy sectors together.”

European eels, once a thriving part of Somerset waterways, are down 90 per cent since the 1970s due to factors such as pollution, barriers, habitat loss, and over-fishing.

The spokesperson said: “But we can change that, one classroom at a time.”