Eel aquaculture depends entirely on wild-caught glass eels, creating a direct conflict between aquaculture production and wild population conservation - welfare and sustainability are both compromised.
Eel aquaculture welfare faces a fundamental sustainability conflict: the industry depends on wild glass eel capture that directly depletes an already critically endangered population. There is no captive breeding solution currently available, meaning every farmed eel represents a wild fish removed from an already depleted population. The welfare of farmed eels, while important, is secondary to the conservation question of whether eel aquaculture should continue at all. Welfare within the system includes appropriate water quality, density management, disease control and humane slaughter. Consumer demand reduction for smoked eel and related products would simultaneously improve wild population welfare and reduce aquaculture welfare concerns.