European eel populations have crashed by over 95% — yet eel farming continues using wild-caught juveniles, creating both conservation and welfare concerns.
European eel farming presents a uniquely complex welfare and conservation problem. Unlike most farmed fish, eels cannot reproduce in captivity — every farmed eel began as a wild-caught individual, meaning eel farming directly depletes an already critically endangered wild population. This makes eel farming simultaneously a welfare concern for individual animals and a conservation threat to the species. The welfare of individual farmed eels also deserves attention: these are sensitive, long-lived fish with complex behavioral repertoires poorly suited to intensive farming conditions. The honest welfare and conservation response to this situation is to dramatically reduce eel consumption and farming while supporting population recovery of wild stocks.