European and Japanese eels are farmed for high-value sushi and traditional cuisine markets, but welfare challenges are extreme due to their complex biology, poor reproductive success in captivity, and slaughter practices.
Eel aquaculture welfare involves multiple serious concerns across the production cycle. The dependency on wild-caught juveniles means that commercial eel farming directly depletes wild populations of a critically endangered species — a welfare and conservation harm simultaneously. Wild glass eel collection is itself a stressful process with mortality. Farmed eels in high-density systems show high aggression and disease rates. The lack of established commercial reproduction in captivity means eel farming cannot be sustainable in the long term. Slaughter methods remain inadequately evaluated for welfare compared to other farmed fish. Consumer awareness of both the welfare and conservation dimensions of eel consumption remains low, despite eel featuring prominently in sushi menus globally.