European and Japanese eels are among the most economically valuable farmed fish species, yet their welfare requirements are poorly understood and their wild populations are critically endangered.
Eel welfare in aquaculture sits at an unusual intersection where individual animal welfare concerns are compounded by species conservation crisis. The welfare problems of individual farmed eels — burrowing species maintained in open tanks, handled roughly during grading, and killed by welfare-negative methods — are real and addressable. But they cannot be separated from the conservation context: farming eels requires wild capture of critically endangered juveniles, making improved welfare conditions for farmed eels a partial response at best. The most welfare-positive position for eel consumers is to not eat eel until sustainable aquaculture becomes possible through breakthrough captive breeding research, combined with supporting that research and wild eel population recovery. For existing eel operations, welfare improvements including reduced stocking density, appropriate shelter, and humane slaughter methods reduce individual suffering within a system that is otherwise conservation-problematic.