It is at gold prices that they are resold in Asia on the black market.

French customs announce the seizure, during the fishing season, of some 254 kg of glass eels, an eel fry threatened with extinction and whose export is prohibited outside the EU.

They were intercepted between December 2021 and March 2022, and represent a value of 60,000 to 80,000 euros on the illicit market in Europe.

The glass eels could have been resold “for up to a million euros in China to be fattened”, specify the customs in a press release, thus multiplying their value by 12.5.

"After fattening, a kilo of fry giving about a ton of adult eels, these fish could have generated 6 to 7 million euros for the clandestine sectors, particularly in Japan, their main country of consumption", they add.

The largest seizure was made on the night of February 19 by agents of the National Directorate of Intelligence and Customs Investigations (DNRED) in Paris and La Rochelle.

That night, they discovered 52 polystyrene boxes containing more than 200 kg of glass eels when checking a utility vehicle parked in an area of ​​the A10 motorway.

One of the causes of the fall in its population

This smuggling of European eel, known as “Anguilla Anguilla”, is one of the causes of the fall in thirty years of 75% of its population.

It has been protected since 2009 under CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).

Its fishing, partly intended for consumption and partly for restocking the rivers, is very strictly regulated, with a system of licenses and quotas.

In 2010, the European Union banned all export of glass eels outside its borders.

The global decline in eel populations and the means put in place to save them have encouraged poaching and created a huge black market that would be more profitable than drug, human and arms trafficking.

The estimated annual value of the illegal traffic of glass eels from Europe to Asia is estimated at 3 billion euros.

Seizures have been reduced in the past two years – 347 kg in 2020 and 7 kg in 2021 – due to the pandemic, blocking air traffic to China.

In 2019, French customs intercepted nearly 1.8 tonnes of glass eels.

World

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A traffic of glass eels, protected species, dismantled in France and Spain

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