A. Species
Scientific name: Anguilla japonica
Common name(s): Japanese eel
Global IUCN Red List Threat Status: Endangered
B. Location of use
Geographic location(s):
- Honshu
Country/Region: Japan
C. Scale of assessment
Scale of assessment: Sub-national / Sub-region / Sub-State
Name/Details of location: Kojima Bay-Asahi River system, Okayama Prefecture
D. Timescale of use
Start Year: 2003
End Year: 2020
E. Information about the use
How is the wild species sourced?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat
Type of use: Extractive
Practice of use: Targeted fishing harvesting/exploiting or collecting wild aquatic resources
Lethal or non-lethal: Lethal
Does this use involve take/extraction of: The whole entire organism
Purpose(s) of end use: Food and feed and Conservation Management
Motivation of use: Basic subsistence, Income generation from trade (individual/household/community), Population/Area Management and Climate Change Nature Based Solution / Adaptation Measure
Is this use legal or illegal?: Legal under national law
F. Information about the Users
Which stakeholder(s) does the record primarily focus on?: Local people and National / local private sector
G. Information about the sustainability of use
Is there evidence that the use is having an impact on the target species?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an ecological perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable
Details of assessment carried out: Data presented in this study and others
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Various studies cited in this publication have shown that overfishing is likely the most important factor contributing to the decline of Japanese eel populations. Authors conclude that "Based on the results obtained in this study, we concluded that the closure of glass eel fisheries was not a sufficient countermeasure to recover the Japanese eel population in the study area. "
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an economic perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable
Details of assessment carried out: this study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: high demand/ market value result in over-fishing. Protection of eels need collaborative and integrated approach from all Asian countries that eels traverse during their migration
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a social perspective been recorded?: No, sustainability not determined
Details of assessment carried out: this study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: high demand/ market value result in over-fishing. Protection of eels need collaborative and integrated approach from all Asian countries that eels traverse during their migration
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a human health perspective been recorded?: not recorded
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an animal health/welfare perspective been recorded?: not recorded
Recommendations provided in the record to maintain or enhance the sustainability of the use of the target species
Authors state: "To conserve and sustainably use Japanese eels, a series of management measures such as habitat restoration and management of yellow and silver eel fisheries are needed along with the control of glass eel fisheries throughout the species distribution range. The Ecosystem Based Management (EBM) approach (i.e., a strategy for the integrated management of land, water and living resources that promotes conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way and which is generally seen not just as a strategy that manages the ecosystems themselves, but rather one that manages the human activities that have an impact on ecosystems and takes these effects into account when making management decisions) might be helpful to progress integrated management at appropriate spatial scales.
Record source
Information about the record source: scientific_pub
Date of publication/issue/production: 2021-01-01T00:00:00+0000
Source Reference(s):
Date of record entry: 2022-12-29