EEL: The truth behind the record high wholesale prices in Guangdong is revealed!

Recently, the wholesale price of eels in China's Guangdong Province has risen by a whopping 25 per cent compared to last year, with the wholesale price of small-size eels climbing to RMB 210,000 per tonne, while large-size eels have also reached a high of RMB 195,000 per tonne. Behind this price movement is a combination of factors.

According to the Sustainable Eel Group (SEG) in Brussels, the stock of eel fry in Guangdong this year has been reduced by 40% to just 50 million. This reduction is inextricably linked to Europe's success in combating eel smuggling. andrew Kerr, chairman of the SEG, said that over the past six years, Europe has arrested some 800 suspected smugglers and imposed tough legal sanctions on them, effectively curbing the rampant illegal trade. At its peak, the illegal eel trade was worth up to €3bn, but this has now shrunk to one-tenth of its original value.

European eel farms produce a total of around 6,000 tonnes per year. The world's largest eel producer is China, with an annual production of 240,000 tonnes, which represents 85% of world production. As a result, there is a strong demand for eel fry in China, but the local supply of eel fry is limited, and there is a heavy reliance on imported European eel fry for culture. As a critically endangered species, the protection of the European eel has become a global consensus. However, as it is impossible to breed them artificially, wild eel fry have become the target of smugglers.

China's eel farming industry has thus been affected by supply bottlenecks, but rising prices have also brought positive changes. Domestic aquaculture companies turned a profit in the first half of the year, with profits rising sharply. Meanwhile, China's eel exports to Japan have remained stable. Last year, nearly 90% of Japan's US$529 million eel imports came from China, which supplied 25,700 tonnes of live and processed eel - the second highest output in 20 years. Although the weak yen may put some pressure on Japanese consumers, Chinese eel remains competitive in the Japanese market.

In order to curb smuggling activities, European countries have stepped up law enforcement and adopted advanced technology to check glass eels in luggage, effectively blocking the chain of illegal trade. In the future, with the further improvement of protection measures and continued strengthening of law enforcement, eel smuggling is expected to be further reduced, creating a fairer market environment for the legal aquaculture industry.