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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Alexandra Talty in Japan and France

Inside the illegal eel trade: is there a way to stop Europe’s biggest wildlife crime before it’s too late?

European Union Europe David Baker Toru Hanai Fish Trafficking Hong Kong Japan Europol France
Live eels being decanted from a plastic bag into a black plastic bucket.
Fresh live eels being delivered to Kawatoyo restaurant in Narita, Japan. Photograph: Toru Hanai

By 10am on the midsummer Day of the Ox, the city of Narita smells of charcoal and sugar. The cobbled road is thronged with visitors lining up to buy grilled eel, a traditional delicacy believed to cool the body and keep spirits up in the humid weather.

“We’ll be so sad if it becomes extinct and we can’t eat eel any more,” says a customer sitting on the tatami-mat floor in Kawatoyo, a popular restaurant specialising in grilled eel, which has been operating for more than 115 years.

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