Photo-voice Gallery
This research is part of the University of Sheffield's ‘Beastly Business: Examining the Illegal Wildlife Trade in Europe’ project. It involved collaboration with 14 individuals, including academics, conservationists, commercial and recreational fishers, fish traders, government representatives, and non-governmental organisation (NGO) authorities. Interviews and observations focussed on two key sites: the Sargasso Sea - the start of the eels’ transatlantic spawning migration, and the River Severn in the UK - following the arrival of migrating juvenile eels.
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A thematic analysis of the interviews revealed five core-conflicts across both study sites, around which the photo-voice gallery is structured:
1. Threats from negligence
2. Threats from fisheries and trade
3. Threats from ignorance
4. Threats from concurrent industries
5. Threats from climate change
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1. Threats from negligence
Negligent acts are those that have unintended impacts on the eels’ health and survival (e.g., polluting activities and habitat degradation).
Sargasso Sea gallery: Washed up pollution
Image shared by Megan, a marine scientist. Megan described how the image shows large and small plastic debris that have become tangled up within sargassum seaweed. These smaller pieces of degraded plastic are almost imperceptible, leading to false impressions of ‘pristine’ beaches.
River Severn gallery: Habitat deterioration
Photo shared by Lelie, a conservation scientist. Lelie described wanting to draw attention to the carelessness surrounding the preservation and protection of freshwater habitats.
2. Threats from fishery and trade
Threats are inclusive of direct harms to the eel (e.g., il/legal fishing, farming, and trade) as well as socio-cultural harms from shifting fishery dynamics (e.g., unregulated demand, oversaturated markets, fishery disenfranchisement, and loss of fishery culture)
Sargasso Sea gallery: Passive security, a sign.
Image chosen by Joe, a commercial fisher in Bermuda. This image is intentionally anonymous, indicative of a sense of unease within the fishing community. It serves as a visual metaphor to illustrate the passive and anonymous nature of fishery enforcement.
River Severn gallery: Controlling fishers
Photo chosen by Sheena, a fishery researcher. During a walking interview, Sheena pointed out this sign indicating restricted access for elver fishers. Signs like these are commonplace in the area.
3. Threats from ignorance
Ignorant impacts arise when harms to the eel are not adequately considered (e.g., when uncertainties surrounding scientific knowledge, or a lack of collaboration, leads to ineffective policies, governance, or management measures).
Sargasso Sea gallery: Managing the unseen.
Image chosen by Anupa, a representative for the Sargasso Sea Commission. Anupa described how the biodiverse landscape within the Sargassum ecosystem is frequently considered a lesser priority within management; a consequence of being hidden from view, unfamiliar, and unknown.
River Severn gallery: How to protect the invisible?
Photo shared by Matt, an eel business owner and trader. This image shows glass eels that have been dyed pink using Rhodamine B as part of a study into their upstream survival.
4. Threats from climate change
Inclusive of the overarching climate crisis (notably, this only emerged as a core-concern amongst the Sargasso Sea group).
Sargasso Sea gallery: Consequences for ecosystems.
Photo shared by Megan, a marine scientist. This image shows a brain coral, Pseudo-diploria, with black band disease—an indicator and consequence of a warming climate and increasing oceanic acidity.
5. Threats from concurrent industries
Threats are inclusive of broader threats from wider industries (e.g., infrastructure development, waterway management, power generation, and global shipping).
Sargasso Sea gallery: Increasing disturbance
Image shared by Anupa, a representative for the Sargasso Sea Commission. Anupa described how increased shipping traffic is physically disruptive to the Sargassum ecosystem, as well as contributing to greater levels of noise pollution, bio-fouling, and polluting discharges.
River Severn gallery: Insurmountable barriers.
Photo chosen by Alex, a fishery representative. Alex emphasised the threat posed by the industrialisation of freshwater river systems, where barriers such as this three-gate flood defence profoundly alter the natural functioning of riverways and prevent the migration of eels.