European and Japanese eel farming involves billions of animals with almost no welfare consideration, despite growing evidence of fish sentience and the extraordinary lifecycle complexity of eel biology.
Eel farming represents the convergence of welfare neglect and conservation failure: farming an endangered species with wild-caught juveniles using methods that meet no welfare standard, for a non-essential luxury food. The evidence for fish sentience applies to eels, yet welfare receives essentially no consideration in their production. The fact that captive breeding has not been achieved means every farmed eel began its life as a wild animal torn from its natural environment. Consumer education about both the welfare and conservation dimensions of eel consumption is urgently needed.