Japan, S. Korea, Taiwan Begin Talks on Eel Farming Cap

June 7, 2018

Tokyo- Japan, South Korea and Taiwan started a two-day meeting in Tokyo on Thursday to set a cap on the annual volume of the glass Japanese eel used for farming in the year from November.

China was absent from the meeting on the resource management of the endangered Japanese eel, as was in the previous year, apparently in opposition to tighter regulations.

The wild glass Japanese eel is captured for farming in ponds. Reflecting a recent poor catch, the mainstay eel producers of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and China have set a cap on the annual volume of glass eels put in ponds since November 2014. Japan's quota is currently set at 21.7 tons.

The volume of glass eels that Japan has put in ponds for farming since November last year totaled some 14 tons including imports, hitting the second-lowest level since data became available in 2006. Jiji Press