Japan opposes EU calls to expand protection for eel

TOKYO - Japan’s agriculture minister said the country would oppose any call by the European Union to add eel to an endangered species list that would limit trade in them.

Eel is eaten worldwide but is particularly popular in Japan, where it is called “unagi” and traditionally served grilled after it is covered in a sticky-sweet sauce.

Mr Shinjiro Koizumi, speaking to reporters on June 27, said the country carefully manages stock levels of the Japanese eel in cooperation with neighbouring China, Taiwan and South Korea.

“There is a sufficient population, and it faces no extinction risk due to international trade,” he said.

The EU is planning to propose that all eel species be added to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), which limits trade of protected animals, Japanese media reported.

There are 19 species and subspecies of eel, many of them now threatened due to a range of factors including pollution and overfishing.

In 2014, the Japanese eel was listed as endangered – but not critically endangered – by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which cited factors including habitat loss, overfishing, pollution and migration barriers.

Protecting the eel is complicated by their complex life cycle, which unfolds over a vast area, as well as the many unknown details about them, including how they reproduce. AFP