Japan opposes proposal for stricter protection of eels

Japan's agriculture minister said on Friday that his country would oppose any call from the European Union (EU) to list eels as an endangered species, which would restrict trade in the species.

Eel is eaten all over the world, but it is particularly popular in Japan, where it is traditionally served fried and covered in a sticky sauce.

Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told reporters that Japan, in cooperation with its neighbours China, Taiwan and South Korea, is carefully regulating the Japanese eel population.

„The population is sufficient and is not in danger of extinction due to international trade&ndquo;, he asserted.

Japanese media have reported that the EU may soon propose that all eel species be included in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which restricts the trade in protected animals.

There are 19 species and subspecies of eels, many of which are now threatened by a range of factors including pollution and overfishing.

In 2014, the International Union for Conservation of Nature listed the Japanese eel as threatened but not critically endangered, citing factors such as habitat loss, overfishing, pollution and barriers to migration.

Conservation of these fish is complicated by their complex life cycle over a vast area and the many unknowns about how they reproduce.