European eel facing extinction as smugglers fetch €6,000 per kilo of larvae

The European eel (Anguilla anguilla) is critically endangered, and a 2010 EU export ban has fuelled a lucrative black market: one kilogram of glass eels fetches up to €6,000 on the Asian black market, and from that kilo farms can grow over a tonne of adult fish. Since eels cannot be bred effectively in captivity, every specimen must first be caught in the wild. Europol, CITES and Interpol have launched a global joint operation to tackle the multi-billion-euro smuggling trade.

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