I'm sure that they do go out to sea to reach sexual maturity after 3 years.
They can travel 15Km overland taking up oxygen through the skin (hence the
slime, which protects them from the change in salinity) once a year they go for
it all at the same time. Eel ladders are built in modern river adaptions to
enable them to carry out their life cycle. So it's only the small, younger
eels which migrate not mature breeding eels. Maybe all that is left in WW are a
few HUGE eels but as you said that is real world eels not WW eels which
probably taste of peanut brittle and not IMO not vile unless spiced up.
I have only eaten it once, I caught a 2 metre conger eel and turned it into
Thai Fish Cakes and Conger Curry. The wife had a blue fit to find 30lb of fish
cakes in the fridge!
The oxygen thing is the main factor in fishkeeping and from my quick blast
around the web it looks like ponds in ecclesiastical buildings were a
modification of a river, either in situ or channelled so the word "pond" is a bit of
a misnomer.
Dovecotes are popular though...and more yummy.
Steve
just read this and realise I'm sounding like a (r)eel anorak...snigger
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]