European and Japanese eel aquaculture involves welfare challenges including high-density rearing, stress responses to handling, and slaughter methods that may cause prolonged suffering.
Eel welfare presents overlapping conservation and welfare crises. The wild European eel population has declined by over 90% while demand for farmed eel continues to grow. Within farms, eels experience stress from high-density conditions and handling, and many are slaughtered by methods that cause prolonged suffering due to their physiological resilience. Electrical stunning followed by immediate gill cutting represents the most welfare-positive slaughter approach currently available. The intertwining of welfare and conservation concerns means that reducing eel consumption may be the most powerful consumer action available.