99% of eel products from endangered species

At risk of extinction: Almost all eels consumed worldwide belong either to the American eel, Japanese eel or European eel species. — The Straits Times/ANN

More than 99% of eel products sold in 11 countries and regions worldwide come from three species at risk of extinction, a recent joint study by a Japanese and Taiwan­ese research team showed, underscoring the opaque nature of the global eel trade.

Using DNA barcoding, resear­chers at Chuo University in Tokyo and the National Taiwan Univer­sity in Taipei found that almost all eels consumed worldwide belong either to the American eel, Japa­n­ese eel or European eel species – all listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as endangered or critically endangered.