Japan is on track for a record low catch of baby eels this year, renewing fears about declining stocks of the endangered fish, a favoured summer delicacy for Japanese. At the end of March, Japan had 8.8 tons of baby „Anguilla japonica“ eels in culture ponds, including imports from
Japan is on track for a record low catch of baby eels this year, renewing fears about declining stocks of the endangered fish, a favoured summer delicacy for Japanese.
At the end of March, Japan had 8.8 tons of baby „Anguilla japonica“ eels in culture ponds, including imports from China, Taiwan and South Korea, according to a preliminary tally by the fisheries agency.
That is a plunge from more than 18 tons logged at the same time in the last two years. The tally refers to baby eels caught in Japan, as well as those caught elsewhere in Asia and imported by Japan.
The fish are usually caught in the wild and sold to farmers who raise them until they are big enough for culinary use.
The fishing season that began in December will end in late April, and Japan’s volume is on track to fall below the record-low season-end figure of 12.6 tons it hit in 2013.
Eels, known as unagi in Japan, are a prized summer delicacy and demand for the fish is high across Asia.
In addition to overfishing, experts say river dams, pollution and the draining of wetlands, as well as oceanic changes and parasites may be playing a role in declining stocks.
