Study by GREENPEACE Japan reveals that the majority of the eels sold in Japan are not traceable

The study shows that “for 11 of 16 companies that were selling Japanese eel (Aeon, Izumi, Co-op Deli, Seiyu, Daiei, Palsystem, Heiwado, Maruetsu, Yaoko, UNY, and Life) we learned that none of the products could be reliably verified not to involve IUU fishing or trafficking. None of the 11 companies were able to clarify the entire supply chain from fishing (when glass eels were caught) to sales in stores, and for all of them the reason was that it was impossible to trace the process from glass eels being caught to the point they are placed in an aquaculture pond.”  

Furthermore, the study identified that serious amounts of eels are not sold but dumped.

“Only five companies provided numbers on amounts dumped, and we learned that they were dumping approximately 2,730 kilograms of Japanese eel (kabayaki) in 2017. Assuming that cultured eels typically grow to 200 to 300 grams, and using 200 grams for conversion, this would suggest that these major retailers had dumped at least 13,650 individual Japanese eels.”

Please read English study summary here!