Farm minister Koizumi opposes EU call for more protection for eels
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi said Friday the country would oppose any call by the European Union to add eels to an endangered species list that would limit trade.
Eel is eaten worldwide but is particularly popular in Japan, where it is traditionally served grilled after being covered in a sticky-sweet sauce.
Koizumi told reporters that the country carefully manages stock levels of the Japanese eel in cooperation with neighboring China, Taiwan and South Korea.
"There is a sufficient population, and it faces no extinction risk due to international trade," he said.
Japanese media have reported that the EU could soon propose that all eel species be added to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which limits trade of protected animals.
There are 19 species and subspecies of eel, many of them now threatened due to a range of factors including pollution and overfishing.
In 2014, the Japanese eel was listed as endangered, but not critically endangered, by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which cited factors including habitat loss, overfishing, pollution and migration barriers.
Protecting the animal is complicated by their complex life cycle, which unfolds over a vast area, and the many unknowns about how they reproduce.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NHK
43 minutes ago
- NHK
Israeli ambassador to attend Nagasaki peace ceremony on August 9
Israel's ambassador to Japan has expressed his intention to attend this year's peace ceremony marking the US atomic bombing of Nagasaki. The city did not invite Israel for the annual August 9 event last year. Gilad Cohen made the remarks during a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo on Friday. Describing the ceremony as important, Cohen said, "This shows the respect of the Israeli people to the Japanese people in this very difficult moment of remembrance and mutual understanding of the importance of peace." Last year, Nagasaki City decided not to extend an invitation to the Israeli ambassador, as it sought to hold the ceremony smoothly in a calm and solemn atmosphere. Ambassadors from the Group of Seven nations, excluding Japan, also skipped last year's event. For this year's ceremony, Nagasaki has invited all countries and regions with representatives in Japan. The Russian Embassy in Japan said on Friday that Ambassador Nikolay Nozdrev will attend. Russia and Belarus had been excluded until 2024. British Ambassador to Japan Julia Longbottom also expressed her intention to attend when she visited Nagasaki earlier this month. The ambassador was absent last year.
Japan Times
2 hours ago
- Japan Times
ICC President Tomoko Akane criticizes U.S. sanctions
International Criminal Court President Tomoko Akane has criticized U.S. President Donald Trump's sanctions against The Hague-based court, saying they risk destroying the system that supports it. "The sanctions have had impacts on third countries, and they violate international law," she told Japanese media outlets online Friday. "The ICC system based on the rule of war, which the international community has developed over the years, could collapse" if the sanctions continue, she added. The ICC had launched an official investigation into alleged war crimes by U.S. service members in Afghanistan. The court also issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The court's actions angered the United States, which is not an ICC member. On June 5, the State Department announced economic sanctions against four judges involved in the investigation and issuing the warrants, based on an executive order enabling U.S. sanctions against ICC personnel signed by Trump in February. "ICC, which punishes individuals who lead wars, is the last bastion of international law," Akane said from The Hague. She also stressed the importance of maintaining the court's presence. Akane called on ICC member states including Japan to take a stand against the U.S. actions, urging Washington to change its decision.
Japan Times
6 hours ago
- Japan Times
EU proposes eel trade restriction despite opposition from Japan
The European Union on Friday proposed making all eel species, including the Japanese eel, subject to regulation under an international treaty to protect endangered species — a move that Japan opposes. The EU, along with the Dominican Republic, Panama and Honduras, submitted the proposal to the secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES. The proposal is aimed at putting fry, full-grown eels and processed eel products of all 18 species under regulation. CITES, also known as the Washington convention, lists animals and plants requiring protection in annexes on three levels depending on the degree of regulation. The EU and others seek to add all eel species to the second level. The proposal will be discussed among parties to the pact at a conference in Uzbekistan from November to December. If the proposal is approved, exporters will be obliged to issue permits based on scientific assessments, putting eels and processed products under stricter trade control. Japan, where eels are prized food, opposes the proposal. "There is no risk of eels becoming extinct due to international trade," a fisheries agency official has said. On Friday, agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi voiced deep regret over the situation, adding that his country will do everything it can to block the adoption of the proposal in cooperation with China and South Korea.
