Japan, 3 Neighbors Agree to Cooperate against Eel Export Curbs

Tokyo, July 1 (Jiji Press)–Japan, China, South Korea and Taiwan have agreed to cooperate to prevent unreasonable eel trade restrictions, Japan’s Fisheries Agency said Wednesday. The agreement comes after a proposal to strengthen international eel trade restrictions was submitted by the European Union and others at last year’s meeting of parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES. Although the proposal was not adopted, a similar bill may be submitted in the future. During their two-day unofficial talks on the international management of eel resources in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, through Tuesday, Japan and the three neighbors also agreed to maintain the cap on young glass eels released into aquaculture ponds at the level set in 2014. Japan’s quota will remain at 217,000 tons for the two coming seasons. Meanwhile, Japan said that it will be necessary to consider revising the cap, in light of recovering eel resources. No objections were raised to this view, according to informed sources. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]