Why are eels important for the sushi industry?

Freshwater eels, particularly unagi, are a key ingredient in many sushi dishes and have been culturally significant for thousands of years, especially in Japan.

What did CITES decide regarding eel trade protections?

CITES member nations voted against imposing new restrictions on the international trade of eel species, despite calls from conservation groups to protect them from extinction.

Why have eel populations declined so drastically?

Eel populations have suffered from a combination of factors including river dams, hydroelectric turbines, pollution, habitat loss, climate change, poaching, and overfishing.

Home / Environment / Eel Trade Faces Extinction Threat Vote

Eel Trade Faces Extinction Threat Vote

28 Nov

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Summary

Eel species have declined by over 90% since the 1980s.
CITES members voted against new trade restrictions for eels.
Elvers, or baby eels, are crucial for Asian aquaculture and sushi.

Freshwater eels, essential to the global sushi industry, are experiencing drastic population declines, with some species plummeting by over 90% since the 1980s. Despite these alarming figures, a recent vote by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) rejected new trade restrictions aimed at preventing extinction. These wriggling fish are threatened by dams, pollution, habitat loss, and overfishing.

The elvers, or baby eels, are especially sought after by Asian aquaculture companies, serving as crucial seed stock for raising eels to maturity for consumption. In Japan, eel, or unagi, is a culturally significant and long-standing culinary staple. The escalating value of elvers in markets like Maine, the only U.S. state with a significant elver fishery, reflects their dwindling global supply.

Conservation groups advocated for the new CITES protections, emphasizing the need for stricter trade monitoring to combat illegal poaching and ensure long-term survival. However, fishing industries and regulatory bodies in key eel-consuming nations like China and Japan opposed the restrictions, arguing that existing national laws were sufficient. These opposing factions questioned the evidence linking international trade directly to population declines.