Int’l Treaty Panel nixes Trade Curbs on Eels

A panel of an international treaty regulating the trade of endangered species rejected a proposal to impose export restrictions on all eels, amid calls from Japan — one of the world’s largest consumers of the fish — to oppose the measure, Kyodo News reported.

The EU had argued that European eels, which are already subject to restrictions under the pact, are being illegally distributed.

The European Union (EU) and others submitted the proposal at the ongoing Conference of the Parties to the Washington Convention in Uzbekistan.

In the panel’s vote, 100 countries opposed the initiative, far exceeding the 35 that voted in favor, with eight abstaining. Takao Shinobu, a Fisheries Agency official who led the Japanese delegation, said after the vote that Japan’s position “gained the understanding of many countries.”

The EU had argued that European eels, which are already subject to restrictions under the pact, are being illegally distributed because they are indistinguishable from Japanese eels.

The bloc also said that the number of Japanese eels has been sharply declining, claiming that all eel species should be listed as endangered under Appendix II to the Washington Convention, also known as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.