European and American eels are critically endangered due to habitat barriers, overfishing, pollution, and climate change, with individual eel welfare affected by all these pressures across their complex life cycle.
Eels passing through turbines at hydropower stations experience injury from blade strikes, pressure changes, and shear forces that cause lacerations, organ damage, and death. Eels blocked by dams attempt repeated ascent attempts causing exhaustion. While the sentience of eels is less certain than vertebrates closer to us, their behavioral responses to injury and their complex life history warrant welfare consideration. Fish passes, turbine bypass systems, and fishing regulations all reduce eel welfare harm while supporting population recovery.