Eel is as transparent as glass, a global smuggled 'white gold' treasure

Glass eel has a transparent body like glass, is considered a specialty dish in many countries. This species of eel is likened to 'white gold', becoming a smuggled item that brings huge profits, more than drug trafficking.

Transparent like glass

Glass eel has the scientific name Anguilla anguilla, commonly known as European eel or European eel. The name glass eel comes from its transparent colored body.

The origin of the glass eel is still controversial. 'We think that this eel appeared about 60 million years ago, near the island of Borneo (the third largest island in the world, under the sovereignty of three countries: Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia.). This eel has adapted as the continents drift, changing ocean currents and increasing distances between the areas where this species lives and lays eggs,' said Associate Professor Mari Kuroki, Department of Aquatic Biology at the University Tokyo, said on AFP.

Glass eel is transparent in color. (Photo: EAA).

However, Western scientists believe that this European eel was born somewhere in the North Atlantic Ocean, near Cuba. After that, the young were taken from here to other seas.

In 2009, scientists identified the breeding area of ​​European eels located on the west side of the island of Mariana, 2,000-3,000km from the coast of Japan.

The glass eel is a migratory species and has a rather complex life cycle. To date, we still don't know much about how these eels reproduce. They are born in the sea and then migrate into brackish water and freshwater inland such as estuaries, rivers, streams, ponds, lakes, . to live and develop.

In particular, eels have a change in the color of their skin according to several stages of maturity.

After being born, eel eggs will hatch into larvae. Then, the larvae will transform into a transparent glass eel. At the adult stage, the transparent skin of the eel will change to yellow. When spawning, the eel's skin turns silver again.

Glass eels can live in freshwater for 5-15 years, then swim back to the sea to breed and die. The glass eel only spawns once in its lifetime.

They can live up to 80 years, reaching a maximum length of 130 cm and weighing 1-2 kg as an adult.

Currently, glass eels are on the list of "critically endangered" species in need of protection by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The number of glass eels in recent years has dropped dramatically, up to 99% in the past 30 years.

Smuggling of glass eels is more profitable than drug trafficking

The number of glass eels has declined sharply due to illegal trade.

Young European eels are placed in suitcases filled with water and oxygen, or in batches of seafood smuggled from Europe to Asia by plane, then raised in eel farms.

Eel meat is a specialty dish in Asia. (Photo: AFP)

In Europe, a glass eel costs 0.1 Euro, equivalent to nearly 3,000 VND. But when it landed in Hong Kong (China), its price was 1 Euro. After 1 year in captivity, the price of glass eels is 10 Euros.

The value of a glass eel increases exponentially along the supply chain. Therefore, this eel is also known as 'white gold' because of its sky-high price.

Glass eels are smuggled from Europe to Asia. The smuggling operation often targets young eels because at this stage, they have transparent bodies like glass.

In order to have supplies available, smugglers have fished and raised the juveniles of glass eels until they are mature before being sold. The amount of European eel consumed in Japan today is largely derived from aquaculture farms, the amount of eel caught in the wild accounts for only a very small percentage. It is this scarcity that has caused the price of glass eels to skyrocket.

In China and Japan, glass eel is considered a specialty dish and helps to enhance physiology. Glass eels are sold in China for 5,500 USD/kg (more than 130 million VND). In France, a kilo of glass eel costs 250 euros. This is said to be the most expensive eel in the world.

The glass eel smuggling industry becomes attractive to many people when its profits are greater than smuggling drugs, guns or people. According to the European Eel Conservancy, the glass eel trade brings in about $3.7 billion a year.

However, glass eel smugglers also face many risks, possibly even going to jail.

A French court on October 30, 2019 sentenced two Chinese tourists to prison for smuggling 60 kg of live glass eels hidden in luggage on a flight to China. London's Southwark Criminal Court on February 7, 2020 also convicted a British citizen of smuggling 200kg of eels worth $7.4 million from Europe to East Asia.

Between 2019-2020, 108 eel smugglers were arrested by police in 19 EU countries. Authorities also confiscated nearly 2 tons of glass eels worth up to 6.2 million euros during the period.