Examining the welfare challenges of eel farming — a secretive industry with some of the weakest welfare standards in aquaculture — and the conservation concerns surrounding eel population collapse.
Eel farming represents a convergence of welfare and conservation failures that is difficult to address while the industry continues to depend on wild-caught juveniles. The conservation crisis created by wild glass eel harvesting depletes populations that are already critically endangered. The welfare problems of eel farming — extreme stocking densities, suppressed migratory behavior, inhumane slaughter — compound the conservation harm. Consumers who choose farmed eel products are inadvertently supporting both an endangered species harvest and poor welfare practices. The most welfare- and conservation-positive choice is to avoid eel products entirely until breeding in captivity becomes viable and welfare standards improve substantially.