Latest news with #eel
BBC News
20-07-2025
- General
- BBC News
Outdated River Leven pass to help eels migrate to be replaced
A passage to help eels navigate a river is being replaced with a more modern European eel population has declined dramatically in recent decades due to habitat loss, overfishing and barriers which disrupt its long migration passes, such as the one on the River Leven at Newby Bridge in Cumbria, act as ladders that allow the fish to swim up and over weirs and other Environment Agency (EA) said the current pass in the Leven no longer met modern standards for safety, remote monitoring, or water management. It is now being removed and a new one constructed, which is due to be fully operational by autumn, eels leave European rivers to travel across the Atlantic Ocean to breed for a single time, then the heart of the eel pass improvements is a float switch-controlled pump, which activates during low water flows to help eels move through, making sure they can continue to migrate even in challenging water levels rise, the float switch automatically stops the pump, which will allow migrating eels to use the natural river flow, the EA periods of high flow, the design allows for natural self-cleaning, reducing the need for manual maintenance and helping to maintain higher water quality standards. The EA's Francis Frimpong said: "This new eel pass is another step forward in improving river connectivity and enhancing biodiversity. "By enabling eels to navigate past man-made barriers, we're helping to restore their natural migratory routes and strengthen their numbers for the future." Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
NHK
16-07-2025
- NHK
Live eel imports peak at Narita Airport in Japan
Eel imports are at their peak at Narita Airport, near Tokyo, before demand rises in Japan. July 19 and 31 mark the Day of the Ox in midsummer this year. People in Japan traditionally eat eel on those days to maintain their stamina during the summer heat. Aircraft carrying more than 2 tons of eel in total arrived at the airport from China and Taiwan on Wednesday. Customs officials took out live eels from containers to check whether they match details on their documents. The officials said that live eels are imported by air to keep their freshness, and about 6,500 tons, or around 80 percent of the country's live eel imports, arrived through Narita Airport last year. An importer says prices remain high as in the previous year due to a poor catch of glass eels over the past several years.
Japan Times
28-06-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
EU proposes eel trade restriction despite opposition from Japan
The European Union on Friday proposed making all eel species, including the Japanese eel, subject to regulation under an international treaty to protect endangered species — a move that Japan opposes. The EU, along with the Dominican Republic, Panama and Honduras, submitted the proposal to the secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES. The proposal is aimed at putting fry, full-grown eels and processed eel products of all 18 species under regulation. CITES, also known as the Washington convention, lists animals and plants requiring protection in annexes on three levels depending on the degree of regulation. The EU and others seek to add all eel species to the second level. The proposal will be discussed among parties to the pact at a conference in Uzbekistan from November to December. If the proposal is approved, exporters will be obliged to issue permits based on scientific assessments, putting eels and processed products under stricter trade control. Japan, where eels are prized food, opposes the proposal. "There is no risk of eels becoming extinct due to international trade," a fisheries agency official has said. On Friday, agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi voiced deep regret over the situation, adding that his country will do everything it can to block the adoption of the proposal in cooperation with China and South Korea.
Asharq Al-Awsat
28-06-2025
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Eel-eating Japan Opposes EU Call for More Protection
Japan's agriculture minister said Friday the country would oppose any call by the European Union to add eels to an endangered species list that would limit trade in them. Eel is eaten worldwide but is particularly popular in Japan, where it is called "unagi" and traditionally served grilled after being covered in a sticky-sweet sauce. Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told reporters that the country carefully manages stock levels of the Japanese eel in cooperation with neighboring China, Taiwan and South Korea. "There is a sufficient population, and it faces no extinction risk due to international trade," AFP quoted him as saying. Japanese media have reported that the EU could soon propose that all eel species be added to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) which limits trade of protected animals. There are 19 species and subspecies of eel, many of them now threatened due to a range of factors including pollution and overfishing. In 2014, the Japanese eel was listed as endangered, but not critically endangered, by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which cited factors including habitat loss, overfishing, pollution and migration barriers. Protecting the animal is complicated by their complex life cycle, which unfolds over a vast area, and the many unknowns about how they reproduce.
NHK
28-06-2025
- Business
- NHK
EU proposes international trade regulations on all eel species
The European Union has proposed making all eel species, including the Japanese eel, subject to trade regulations under an international convention. The EU and other countries, including the Dominican Republic, submitted the proposal on Friday to the secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. The convention regulates international trade in endangered species. The EU calls for all non-listed eel species to be subject to trade controls under the pact. Parties to the convention will discuss the proposal at a meeting in Uzbekistan starting in November. If they approve the proposal, international trade in the eel species will come under the regulations, which require exporting countries to issue permits. A series of moves have been made to strengthen protection of eels. Parties to the convention made the European eel subject to the regulations in 2009. In 2016, they adopted a proposal by the EU to conduct a study of the global eel trade. The EU cited a lack of transparency in such trade.
