Proposed Eel Regulations Draw Eyes to CITES Conference, Could Lead to Price Hike

By Ryuji Hashimoto / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

15:26 JST, November 22, 2025

International trade restrictions on eels under the Washington Convention may be strengthened, with a vote on the matter drawing attention to the meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES set to begin in Uzbekistan on Monday.

The European Union and other countries have called for stricter regulations on all eel species, including the Japanese eel, which they say are at risk of extinction. If the proposal to strengthen regulations is adopted at the conference, it is possible the price of eels in Japan, many of which are imported, will rise.

In June, the EU submitted a request to the secretariat of the treaty, officially called the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES, that all eel species be listed in Appendix II, which would require export permits to be issued by the exporting country.

The reason behind this request is the risk of extinction of European eels.

European eel stock has declined sharply due to overfishing of juvenile fish, and it was listed in Appendix II in 2009. However, even after the listing, smuggling remains rampant, with Europol saying that up to 100 tons of young fish are illegally exported from the EU each year. They are reportedly being traded under false names such as Japanese eels and American eels, which are not subject to international trade regulations.

The EU aims to prevent the smuggling of European eels by tightening regulations on international trade in all eel species.

Japan is opposed to expanding international trade regulations to all eel species. Based on sources including articles by experts, the Fisheries Agency claims that Japanese eel stocks have been recovering since 1990 and that they are not at risk of extinction.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has also concluded that the risk of Japanese eels becoming extinct is low.

The CITES Secretariat has recommended the adoption of the EU proposal in its final assessment. The matter is scheduled to be put to a vote at the conference. For the proposal to pass, it needs the approval of more than two-thirds of the countries and regions that are CITES signatories. According to sources, many parties have not yet made their position clear.

“It is difficult to predict what the outcome of the vote will be, but the government will continue to do its utmost to spread an understanding of Japan’s side to the countries involved,” said Tetsuya Kawashima, head of the Fisheries Agency’s Resources and Environment Research Division.

The domestic supply of eels in 2024 was 60,941 tons, with imports accounting for about 70%.

Even if trade restrictions on all eel species were to be tightened, commercial trade would still be possible if exporting countries issued permits based on scientific evidence. However, the complexity of procedures could increase, including the cost of issuing export permits, which could lead to higher eel prices.

Furthermore, experts have said that if tighter regulations lead to rampant smuggling, as happened with European eels, there is a risk that strict resource management will become difficult.