European and Japanese eel farming involves unique welfare challenges from a species that undergoes dramatic life stage transitions and long migrations.
Eel welfare in aquaculture sits at the intersection of species conservation and individual animal welfare concerns. The dependence on wild-caught glass eels creates a welfare cost before farming even begins, through capture and transport of wild juvenile fish. Farming conditions impose welfare costs from crowding and handling stress for a sensitive species with complex life history requirements. The conservation status of wild eel populations adds urgency to developing closed-cycle farming that eliminates wild capture dependency, while welfare science must develop species-specific standards appropriate for eels' unique biology.