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Trade curbs on all eels rejected

The parties to the Washington Convention, a treaty regulating the international trade of endangered species, hold a plenary session in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Dec. 4, 2025. A proposal by the European Union to put all eel species, including the Japanese eel, under global restrictions, was formally rejected during the session.

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Trade curbs on all eels rejected

The parties to the Washington Convention, a treaty regulating the international trade of endangered species, hold a plenary session in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Dec. 4, 2025. A proposal by the European Union to put all eel species, including the Japanese eel, under global restrictions, was formally rejected during the session.

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Int'l treaty panel rejects trade curbs on all eels

A panel of the Washington Convention, a treaty regulating international trade of endangered species, discusses a proposal by the European Union to put all eel species, including the Japanese eel, under global restrictions, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Nov. 27, 2025. The panel overwhelmingly rejected the proposal amid calls from Japan, one of the world's largest consumers of the fish, to oppose the measure.

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Int'l treaty panel rejects trade curbs on all eels

A panel of the Washington Convention, a treaty regulating international trade of endangered species, discusses a proposal by the European Union to put all eel species, including the Japanese eel, under global restrictions, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Nov. 27, 2025. The panel overwhelmingly rejected the proposal amid calls from Japan, one of the world's largest consumers of the fish, to oppose the measure.

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Int'l treaty panel rejects trade curbs on all eels

A panel of the Washington Convention, a treaty regulating international trade of endangered species, discusses a proposal by the European Union to put all eel species, including the Japanese eel, under global restrictions, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Nov. 27, 2025. The panel overwhelmingly rejected the proposal amid calls from Japan, one of the world's largest consumers of the fish, to oppose the measure.

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Global eel trade may be regulated

File photo taken on Nov. 23, 2025, shows Japanese eels at a restaurant in Tokyo. A conference of the parties to the Washington Convention, a treaty regulating international trade in endangered species, will vote in December on a proposal by the European Union to put all eel species, including the Japanese eel, under global restrictions.

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Global eel trade may be regulated

File photo taken on Nov. 23, 2025, shows Japanese eels at a restaurant in Tokyo. A conference of the parties to the Washington Convention, a treaty regulating international trade in endangered species, will vote in early December on a proposal by the European Union to put all eel species, including the Japanese eel, under global restrictions.

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Global eel trade may be regulated

File photo taken on Nov. 23, 2025, shows Japanese eels at a restaurant in Tokyo. A conference of the parties to the Washington Convention, a treaty regulating international trade in endangered species, will vote in December on a proposal by the European Union to put all eel species, including the Japanese eel, under global restrictions.

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Traditional eel-eating day in Japan

Eels are prepared at a restaurant in Tokyo on July 24, 2024, a day in the calendar when people often eat eel in Japan.

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(FujianPano) CHINA-FUJIAN-MARICULTURE (CN)

(240521) -- FUZHOU, May 21, 2024 (Xinhua) -- Workers process grilled eels at a factory in Fuzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, May 15, 2024. Situated by the East China Sea, Fujian Province boasts a sea area of 136,000 square km, a rugged coastline and numerous bays and islands, making it an optimal place for developing mariculture. Over the years, Fujian has concentrated on increasing high-quality marine fishery food supplies, and accelerating the upgrading of mariculture while protecting the marine ecological environment. In 2023, Fujian's mariculture output was nearly 5.8 million tonnes, ranking second in the country. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)

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Seafood from Japan

A shopper looks at eels from Japan at a supermarket in Hong Kong on Aug. 18, 2023.

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"Hunter" in paddy fields in China's Yunnan

STORY: "Hunter" in paddy fields in China's Yunnan DATELINE: June 14, 2023 LENGTH: 00:00:39 LOCATION: KUNMING, China CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENT SHOTLIST: 1. various of the stork STORYLINE: Snakes, mice, eels, crayfish, snails... the rich pickings in paddy fields in Eryuan County of southwest China's Yunnan Province attract a "hunter" - a stork. The county boasts about 4,000 hectares of paddy fields, providing abundant food to the stork. Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Kunming, China. (XHTV)

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XINHUA-PICTURES OF THE YEAR 2022-AERIAL PHOTO

(230110) -- BEIJING, Jan. 10, 2023 (Xinhua) -- This aerial photo taken on Nov. 12, 2022 shows villagers feeding rice-field eels at a pond in Heping Village under Yunmeng County of Xiaogan City, central China's Hubei Province. (Photo by Hu Xuejun/Xinhua)

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Symposium held in Jakarta on how to preserve Indonesian eels

JAKARTA, Indonesia - A symposium is underway in Jakarta on Nov. 25, 2014, to discuss how to preserve Indonesian eels which have been drawing attention as an alternative resource to Japanese eels, which are at risk of extinction.

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Cost-friendly eel cultivation tested at fish farm

UTSUNOMIYA, Japan - Eels grown big enough to be sold are shown in this photo taken in Nakagawa, Tochigi Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, on Nov. 17, 2014. A local freshwater fish farm grows eels in an experimental aquaculture pond where the water temperature is controlled by retaining heat from a wood-processing factory's boiler, which is said to be more cost-effective than the conventional use of fuel oil.

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Cost-friendly eel cultivation tested at fish farm

UTSUNOMIYA, Japan - A worker at a freshwater fish farm in Nakagawa, Tochigi Prefecture, northeast to Tokyo, watches eels on Nov. 17, 2014, grown in an experimental aquaculture pond where the water temperature is controlled by remaining heat from a wood-processing factory's boiler. The application of residual heat is said to be more cost-effective than the conventional use of fuel oil.

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Farmed eels put into aquaculture ponds to be cut 20%

TOKYO, Japan - A man catches eels for shipment in Nishio, Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, in this file photo taken in July 2012, amid concern over possible short supply due to a recent deal by Japan, China, South Korea and Taiwan to cut the volume of young eels put into aquaculture ponds by 20% from recent levels.

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Eel restaurants face short supply and higher prices

NARITA, Japan - A chef at an eel restaurant in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, prepares to cook an eel on Sept. 17, 2014, amid concern over short supply and higher prices. The Japanese eel was officially put on a red list of species at risk of extinction and a deal was struck by Japan, China, South Korea and Taiwan to drastically cut the volume of young eels put into aquaculture ponds.

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Volume of young eel in aquaculture ponds to be limited

TOKYO, Japan - Masanori Miyahara, adviser to the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, attends a press conference at the ministry in Tokyo on Sept. 17, 2014, after Japan, China, South Korea and Taiwan agreed on conserving the endangered Japanese eel by cutting the volume of young eels put into aquaculture ponds by 20 percent from recent levels.

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Univ. of Tokyo assistant professor publishes book on eels

TOKYO, Japan - Mari Kuroki, an assistant professor at the University of Tokyo, holds her picture book titled "Japanese Eel called U-chan" in Tokyo in this undated photo. The book depicts the life of an eel, whose mode of life is little known despite the fear of its extinction, in a way even elementary school children can understand.

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Final countdown for eel restaurants before day of ox

TOKYO, Japan - A cook grills eel at a prominent eel restaurant in Tokyo on July 26, 2014, ahead of the Midsummer Day of the Ox when people traditionally eat roasted eels.

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Final countdown for eel restaurants before day of ox

TOKYO, Japan - A vendor shows a lunch box with grilled eel pieces over steamed rice at Mitsukoshi Department Store in Tokyo on July 28, 2014, ahead of the Midsummer Day of the Ox when people traditionally eat roasted eels.

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Imported eels checked at Narita airport customs

NARITA, Japan - Customs officers at Narita airport, east of Tokyo, check imported eels kept in a facility of a trading company on July 23, 2014. Imports of the fish are peaking ahead of the upcoming customary day to eat broiled eels as a "beat summer heat" tradition.

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Imported eels checked at Narita airport customs

NARITA, Japan - Imported eels are poured into a bucket at a facility of a trading company at Narita airport, east of Tokyo, on July 23, 2014, ahead of customs clearance. Imports of the fish are peaking ahead of the upcoming customary day to eat broiled eels as a "beat summer heat" tradition.

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Eel-eating day

OSAKA, Japan - Skewered eels are broiled at eel restaurant and shop Funaya in Osaka's Ikuno Ward on July 22, 2013, known as "doyo no ushi no hi," a day people in Japan customarily eat eel hoping to beat the summer heat.

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Indonesian glass eel smuggling rampant

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Photo taken July 11, 2013, shows eels that were farmed on Indonesia's Java island. Amid dwindling eel stocks in Japan and other East Asian countries, the continued demand for juvenile eels has led to an increase in smuggling glass eels from Indonesia to Japan and China, prompting Jakarta to toughen regulations.

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Japanese eel designated as species at risk of extinction

TOKYO, Japan - Undated file photo shows Japanese eels. The Environment Ministry on Feb. 1, 2013, designated the Japanese eel as a species at risk of extinction on its non-legally binding red list of endangered freshwater and brackish water fish.

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Imported farm eels

HAMAMATSU, Japan - Photo taken on July 19, 2012, in Hamamatsu city, Japan, shows a farm-grown eel, imported from Madagascar by a trading house in the city. Almost all eels consumed in Japan are sourced from farms both domestic and abroad.

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Eel from Madagascar

HAMAMATSU, Japan - Photo shows a farmed eel imported from Madagascar by a trading house in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, on July 19, 2012. Many Japanese eat eels as an energy-rich food in summer.

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Deep-sea submersible to observe eels' spawning

TOKYO, Japan - Photo shows the manned submersible vessel Shinkai 6500 in Suruga Bay in April 2012. A Japanese team of researchers said on May 17, 2012, that they will put the submersible into deep-sea waters in the Pacific near Guam in July 2012 to conduct ecological studies on Japanese eels.

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World's 1st second-generation eel breeding under way in Japan

MINAMIISE, Japan - A worker at the Japanese governmental Fisheries Research Agency feeds baby eels under fluorescent blue light at its institute in Minamiise, Mie Prefecture, on April 12, 2010. The agency has succeeded in breeding second-generation cultivated eels for the first time in the world.

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World's 1st second-generation eel breeding under way in Japan

MINAMIISE, Japan - Baby eels swim in a pool at an institute of the Japanese governmental Fisheries Research Agency in Minamiise, Mie Prefecture, on April 12, 2010. The agency has succeeded in breeding second-generation cultivated eels for the first time in the world.

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Japan in eel-eating season

TOKYO, Japan - A cook charcoal broils skewered eels flavored with special ''kabayaki'' sauce at the crowded eel restaurant Kiyokawa in Tokyo's Nihombashi district on July 19. Following a longtime custom, many in Japan eat eels in mid- and late July hoping the practice helps them beat the summer heat.

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Japan in eel-eating season

TOKYO, Japan - Children and their parents show off charcoal broiled ''kabayaki'' eels they arrange over rice in a 20-meter-long line of containers in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district on July 17. The event was held to promote eels from Taiwan in a season in which many in Japan eat the fish following a longtime custom hoping that the practice helps them beat the summer heat.

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Japan in eel-eating season

TOKYO, Japan - Children and their parents show off charcoal broiled ''kabayaki'' eels they arrange over rice in a 20-meter-long line of containers in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district on July 17. The event was held to promote eels from Taiwan in a season in which many in Japan eat the fish following a longtime custom hoping that the practice helps them beat the summer heat.

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Police search seafood firms over false labeling of eel products

FUKUOKA, Japan - Police investigators enter the office of seafood importer Uohide in Fukuoka on July 3 to search for evidence. Uohide, based in Osaka, and Kobe-based wholesaler Shinko Gyorui Ltd. are involved in a false-labeling scandal in which the firms allegedly sold grilled eels farmed in China as products made using Japanese-raised eels.

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Police search seafood firms over false labeling of eel products

KOBE, Japan - Takashi Oohori (R), president of Kobe-based seafood wholesaler Shinko Gyorui Ltd., a subsidiary of Maruha Nichiro Holdings Inc., bows in apology during a press conference in Kobe on July 3 after police raided his company and seafood importer Uohide as part of an investigation into a false-labeling scandal in which the two firms allegedly sold grilled eels farmed in China as products made using eels raised in Japan.

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Police search seafood firms over false labeling of eel products

KOBE, Japan - Police investigators raid the headquarters of seafood wholesaler Shinko Gyorui Ltd. in Kobe on July 3. The company and Osaka-based seafood importer Uohide allegedly sold grilled eels farmed in China as products made using Japanese-raised eels.

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2 fish product dealers passed off Chinese eels as Japanese

KOBE, Japan - Takashi Ohori, president of Shinko Gyorui Ltd., a subsidiary of Maruha Nichiro Holdings Inc., and other executives of the fish products wholesaler bow in apology at a news conference in Kobe on June 25, after the government accused the company and Uohide, an Osaka-based seafood dealer, of labeling grilled eels farmed in China as eels grown in Isshiki, a town in Aichi Prefecture famous for growing quality eels.

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2 fish dealers pass off Chinese eels as Japanese

TOKUSHIMA, Japan - Akihiro Nakatani, president of Uohide, an Osaka-based fishery product sales firm, speaks to reporters in Tokushima on June 25 after the fisheries ministry announced Uohide and Shinko Gyorui Ltd., a subsidiary of Maruha Nichiro Holdings Inc., sold grilled eels farmed in China by falsely labeling them as being products farmed in Japan's Aichi Prefecture.

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Natural eel resources drastically dropping worldwide

TOKYO, Japan - Packs of grilled eels at a supermarket in downtown Tokyo.

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Eels from Taiwan arrive in Japan for eel-eating season

NARITA, Japan - Airline staff show off eels which have just arrived at Narita airport, outside Tokyo, from Taiwan on July 23. They are part of large shipments of eels which began arriving in Japan to meet a surge in demand created by a centuries-old custom of eating eels at the height of summer.

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Gov't begins inspecting labels of fishery products

TOKYO, Japan - ''Kabayaki'' eels, charcoal broiled and flavored with teriyaki sauce, are on display at a Tokyo supermarket store on July 19 on the eve of the traditional eel-eating day. They are mostly imported from China and Taiwan. The Japanese farm ministry has begun examining whether labels of processed fishery products correctly show the place of origin under the Japanese Agricultural Standards law. The first inspection of its kind follows a series of food-labeling scandals that have heightened consumer concerns about the safety of food products.

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Supplies arrive from Taiwan for eel-eating season

NARITA, Japan - Airline workers at Narita airport, outside Tokyo, on July 17 handle eels which began arriving in Japan from Taiwan to meet a surge in demand at the height of summer.

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Eels from Taiwan arrive in Japan for eel-eating season

NARITA, Japan - Workers at Narita airport, outside Tokyo, show off eels which had just arrived from Taiwan on July 26. They are part of large shipments of eels which began arriving in Japan to meet a surge in demand created by a centuries-old custom of eating eels at the height of summer. The imported eels are packaged to be prepared in the ''kabayaki'' method, in which they are charcoal broiled and flavored with teriyaki sauce.

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Japan's sea eel imports peaking

Japan's imports of sea eels or ''hamo'' in Japanese -- a special summer taste in the Kansai (western Japan) area -- are increasing toward the peak time of July's Gion Matsuri festival in Kyoto. The photo shows customs officials at Osaka's Kansai International Airport checking sea eels airlifted from China and South Korea on June 23.

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Barcelona carries out major project to transform coastline, boost marine biodiversity

STORY: Barcelona carries out major project to transform coastline, boost marine biodiversity DATELINE: Oct. 28, 2022 LENGTH: 00:01:52 LOCATION: Madrid CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENT SHOTLIST: 1. various of the port 2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Catalan): JAUME COLLBONI, Deputy mayor of Barcelona 3. various of the costal line 4. SOUNDBITE 2 (Catalan): JAUME COLLBONI, Deputy mayor of Barcelona STORYLINE: Barcelona is in the process of transforming its coastline, including stimulating the blue economy and regenerating marine biodiversity in the Olympic Port area, emblematic of the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992. The latest action announced by the city council is the installation in early 2023 of a hundred artificial reefs in the harbor aimed at boosting marine biodiversity. The reefs, also called biotopes, will join 300 already installed and will be placed underwater in six groups to form a large bio-regeneration reef with a surface area of more than 1,300 square meters to foster the proliferation of such marine species as eels,

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Conger eels at northeastern Japan aquarium

Photo taken at Sendai Umino-Mori Aquarium in the northeastern Japan city of Sendai on Feb. 1, 2022, shows conger eels protruding from pipes that resemble "ehomaki" sushi rolls that are eaten on the Feb. 3 Setsubun day marking the turn from winter to spring.

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Conger eels at Yokohama aquarium

Conger eels poke their heads out from tubes that look like "ehomaki" sushi rolls at the aquarium of the Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise amusement complex in Yokohama, near Tokyo, on Jan. 21, 2022.

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Conger eels at Yokohama aquarium

Conger eels poke their heads out from tubes that look like "ehomaki" sushi rolls at the aquarium of the Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise amusement complex in Yokohama, near Tokyo, on Jan. 21, 2022.