Eel as an endangered species

Current eel farming depends on wild glass eels (young eels). Glass eels are caught off the European coast and then reared as eels for consumption. Some of it is released back into fresh water to support eel stocks in inland waters. Nevertheless, European eel stocks are threatened by obstacles in the migration routes, reduction of habitat, pollution, diseases and overfishing.

Eel stocks in the Netherlands have declined by 95% over the past 50 years. The amount of glass eel entering fresh water from the North Sea is now only a few percent of the amount that used to enter, according to research by ICES, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. The European eel is listed as "critically endangered" on the Red Listof IUCN, the international union for nature conservation.