Eel fishing in the Mediterranean area is mainly carried out in lagoon ecosystems characterised by a communication between the sea and the lagoon, which is called “grau” in Occitan (term designating an estuary or a channel). These lagoons or coastal ponds are suitable places for the entry of glass-eels and the growth of eels until their migration periods. About 60,000 hectares of lagoons are identified on the French Mediterranean coast (including Corsica) and are exploited by fishing communities that catch various species of fish, including eels, a species that is highly valued in the Mediterranean area and some of which are exported to Italy for fattening. 

These communities of fishers used lines, fyke nets or “capetchade”, a system consisting of a anchored net called a “paradière” which guides the fish to fyke nets placed around a catching chamber called the “tower”.