European and Japanese eel aquaculture faces unique welfare challenges related to their complex life cycle, elusive wild capture, and welfare during farming and slaughter.
Eel farming welfare presents multiple overlapping concerns: the depletion of wild populations through glass eel capture, the welfare conditions of farmed eels during growing periods, and inhumane slaughter methods. The Critically Endangered status of European eel creates a conservation welfare imperative beyond individual farmed animal welfare. Reducing eel consumption, supporting sustainable sourcing standards where they exist, and advocating for more humane slaughter methods all contribute to addressing this complex multi-dimensional welfare challenge. The inability to breed eels in captivity means that any farmed eel has been removed from a critically depleted wild population.