Eels are farmed in large numbers, primarily in Asia and Europe, with minimal attention to their welfare. Their biology creates specific management challenges.
Farmed eel welfare is complicated by the profound conservation crisis of wild eel populations. All farmed eels begin as wild-caught juveniles — a practice that simultaneously harms wild populations and subjects animals to stressful capture. The farming system itself involves high densities, repeated handling for sorting, and in many cases slaughter methods that cause significant suffering — salt immersion and live skinning are welfare-poor methods with better alternatives available. The conservation crisis of European eels means that farming depends on continued wild capture of a critically endangered species. The welfare and conservation arguments both point toward reduced eel farming, development of eel aquaculture that does not depend on wild capture, and substitution of other protein sources. Electrical stunning before slaughter represents a minimum welfare improvement achievable in existing facilities.