Eel aquaculture is a multi-billion dollar industry in Asia and Europe, but farmed eels face significant welfare challenges and the industry relies on wild-caught juveniles.
The wild capture of glass eels (juvenile eels) for farming contributes directly to the collapse of wild populations, causing a welfare and conservation crisis simultaneously. In farm systems, eels are vulnerable to skin abrasions, gill damage, and chronic stress from crowding. Slaughter methods lag behind other aquaculture species, with many facilities using methods likely to cause prolonged suffering. Behavioral suppression from dense crowding prevents natural exploratory and migratory behaviors.