Government makes surprising move to block controversial export: 'This will be hundreds of years of heritage and culture gone'

The United Kingdom has officially banned the export of endangered European eels to Russia.

As The Guardian reported, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs refused a request to export millions of glass eels — baby eels that develop into juvenile elvers — to Kaliningrad. This is a pivot, as DEFRA permitted the same trader, Peter Wood of UK Glass Eels, to export one tonne of eels last year (around 1.1 tons).

"This application for the export of glass eels has been refused over concerns of significant risks of illegal trading compounded by the current situation in Russia," a DEFRA spokesperson said.

The European eel is listed as critically endangered, with populations plummeting by 95% since the 1980s. Overfishing, habitat loss because of dams, pollution, and the shifting of the Gulf Stream because of global warming may have all contributed to their decline. In 2010, the EU banned exports of European eels to countries outside their natural range. However, since Brexit, the U.K. has allowed some exports to non-EU countries if it was for conservation.

Wood, who has been an eel trader for more than 50 years, says the shipment was part of a conservation project in Kaliningrad, and he strongly opposes the ban. "It is absolutely devastating. All my team are going to lose their jobs. This will be hundreds of years of heritage and culture gone," Wood said.

However, conservationists remain skeptical. They argue the project is really a cover for eel farming, not species recovery. More than 55,000 people signed a petition to end their export to Russia. Andrew Kerr of the Sustainable Eel Group said eels should be restocked in domestic rivers instead. "It's a much better use of the precious natural resource that they should migrate up the Severn than be sent to Russia," Kerr said.

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While this ban has raised concerns for eel fishers and exporters such as Wood, who has responded to criticisms, advocates say it boosts transparency and strengthens local conservation goals. Wood said the ban will inherently hinder restocking efforts in the U.K., but conservationists argue it could help the U.K. meet its "eel escapement target," which measures how many eels make it out to sea to spawn.

One potential solution for eel fishers affected by the ban could be to incentivize their participation in domestic restocking efforts.

The Sustainable Eel Group responded to the decision, saying: "With the eel trade to Russia now officially ended, SEG urges the government to focus on funding and supporting local restocking efforts, especially in areas like the Severn and Parrett, where lost wetland habitat, barriers to migration, surface runoff, 'diffuse pollution,' and water pumps present particular hazards to this endangered species."

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