Japan Facing Extremely Poor Catches of Baby Eels

Tokyo, Jan. 17 (Jiji Press)—Catches of juvenile Japanese eels have been extremely low in the current fishing season, raising concerns among eel farmers.

Baby eel catches in December last year are believed to have totaled only 0.2 ton, down sharply from a year before, according to the Fisheries Agency.

If the situation continues, catches in the 2018 season, from last month to April, may slip below the record low of 5.2 tons in the 2013 season.

Baby eels, also known as glass eels or elvers, are caught in 24 of Japan’s 47 prefectures, including Kagoshima, Miyazaki and Shizuoka.

In Kagoshima, southwestern Japan, baby eel catches in the first 15 days of the 2018 season from December 10 came to 0.5 kilogram, or just 1% of the year-before level.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]

source: https://www.nippon.com/en/genre/society/l10727/