Japan limits eel rearing

Tokyo, June 20 (IANS/EFE) Japan's fisheries agency is preparing a plan to limit the annual volume of Japanese eel - popular with foodies all over - that can be reared from this autumn onward.

This move comes after the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) declared the species to be on the brink of extinction.

The project is Japan's attempt to prevent IUCN's decision resulting in a ban on the international trade of the species according to the Washington Convention that regulates the commercialisation of threatened flora and fauna.

The Japanese eel, widely popular in local cuisine, is caught when young and later raised in captivity.

Given the reduction in their numbers in Japan, the country's producers depend largely on its import from countries such as South Korea, China or Taiwan.

To avoid a trade blockade, the agency is drawing up a plan to limit the volume of young eels that producers can acquire each year to less than 17 tonnes.

The commercial over-exploitation has caused the annual catch of young eels in Japanese waters to fall drastically in the last few years.

This in turn has caused the wholesale prices to double in only the last five years.

However, given that the new restrictions being planned by the government will put a cap on the the producers' demand, the price of the product seems only set to rise further in the coming years.

--IANS/EFE

ab/vm