People Are Killing Baby Eels Because Of High Demand For Sushi

They're just tiny babies when they're "harvested."

There is a multimillion-dollar black market industry that most people have probably never heard of — and its victims can fit in the palm of your hand.

Even though fishing for eels is only legal in the U.S. off the coasts of Maine and South Carolina, and for only a few weeks in the spring, poaching has become a rampant problem for the animal, which is one of the most fascinating and mysterious creatures of the sea.
 

“Eels are notable for mobility and versatility. They act as a food truck for the ocean, then an Uber for shellfish that need to work their way up streams,” Catherine Kilduff, senior attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity’s Oceans Program, told The Dodo. “Baby eels hatch in mysterious ocean spawning grounds and feed larger fish, seabirds and turtles.”


Eels found off the coasts of the U.S. are often called glass eels because of their translucent skin. They come from the Sargasso Sea, a weedy breeding ground in the middle of the Atlantic. From there, the little eels swim to the coasts of the Americas and Europe, where they play crucial roles in marine ecosystems.

“Once eels return to the coast, they stock estuaries with food and become a predator of fish in freshwater streams,” Kilduff said. “While swimming upstream, mussel larvae hitchhike on eels, which means eels deserve some credit for the filter-feeding role of mussels.”

The eels normally return to mate in the Sargasso Sea once they’re old enough. Sadly, fewer and fewer are given the chance.

Human beings have become a major predator of eels because of the high demand for sushi. And illegal poaching operations all along the East Coast are wreaking havoc on the animals, who weigh just a few grams when they are stolen from the ecosystems where they live.

"Eels, like any organism, are ecologically important,” Candace Crespi, campaign director for the Oceanic Preservation Society (OPS), told The Dodo. “They function as predator, competition and prey — regulating the populations of other animals and providing a significant source of food for others. When you remove any species from its ecosystem there could be detrimental impacts."

The baby eels — who are called “elvers” and can sell for $2,000 a pound — are sold to facilities in the Far East where they are raised until they are big enough to be slaughtered.

In an effort to crack down on the black market of eel poaching, U.S. agencies have started Operation Broken Glass, which has already found that at least $4 million worth of elvers have been poached in recent years.

And demand is just as high as ever. Eel fishing in Japan and Europe has already severely depleted eels in those waters, which is why demand for eels from U.S. coasts is so high. In 2010, the European Union banned exports of eels because they had become critically endangered. Now it’s a race against time to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen here.

You can help eels by decreasing your own demand and sharing this article with friends and family who may not know about the global threats facing eels. You can also donate to the Oceanic Preservation Society or the Center for Biological Diversity.