Anguilla anguilla is a catadromous fish, that go through one of the longest drift from the spawning area recognized in the southwestern Sargasso Sea across Atlantic Ocean towards the European coast with the Gulf Stream. After reaching the continental slope of Europe and North Africa, eel larvae metamorphose into
the post‐larval transparent glass eel to the fresh water. Over the last 40 years, the stock have faced a critically decrease, In some European rivers, eel recruitment is lower than1% of levels compared to that in 1980s, and it was listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora in 2007.The reasons of this decline are still unclear, but the habitat modification, migration barriers, and fisheries might play a role . However, the difficulty of observing eels during their marine life stages cause the gaps in knowledge concern the larva life stages of eels. the duration of larval migrations and the oceanic trajectories of larvae are fundamental to population dynamics, but it remain controversial. The knowledge of understanding of eel recruitment is urgent need to improve our for management and conservation purposes. the migration duration remains controversial.
Here, the study attempts to apply the individual migration model to understand the migration path of the eel.The results shows when model set up the resolution as 1 degree, the average migration time would be more similarly with the current observations. The estimated time for larvae to cross the Atlantic Ocean to reach the estuary without considering active swimming could be as long as 2 years. The success rate of reaching estuary would higher when NAO is negative.