80% of young eels farmed in Japan may have been smuggled from Taiwan

About 80 percent of young eels put into aquaculture pools in Japan in December and January may have been smuggled from Taiwan via Hong Kong, according to trade data and sources close to the matter.Japan imported some 6 tons of juvenile eels from Hong Kong in those two months, according to government data, but Hong Kong does not engage in eel fishing, raising suspicions about their origin. Industry observers say most of them could have been illegally brought from Taiwan, which bans exports of the snake-like fish.The eels start their spawning migration in the waters of East Asia and are desig…READ FULL ARTICLE