The Sargasso Sea Commission co-hosted the 4th meeting of the Range States of the European eel from October 16-17, 2025. Meeting partners included the Secretariat of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), the World Maritime University Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute, the Government of Sweden and the Principality of Monaco.

The meeting brought together representatives from countries connected to the life cycle of the European eel. The only spawning site for these iconic fish is the Sargasso Sea. They are catadromous, spawning in the ocean and migrating thousands of miles to inshore Europe, the Baltic, the Mediterranean, and northern Africa, where they spend most of their lives in brackish or freshwater environments. The eels are harvested by humans for consumption, driving a decline that is exacerbated by other threats, including habitat loss, disease, barriers to migration, and more.[1] Listed as critically endangered by the IUCN, the European eel has experienced an 90% fall in fisheries catch since the 1970s.[2]

Eels are targeted at the glass eel stage for aquaculture production in Asia, to supply high-end sushi restaurants with unagi. One kilo of tiny glass eels can sell for as much as $4,000 at the source or up to $15,000 at the destination. The European eel is listed under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), indicating that its trade must be closely controlled to prevent extinction. They have also been subject to a European Union export ban since 2010. In 2014, in support of the work of the Sargasso Sea Commission, Monaco proposed that the European Eel be added to Appendix II of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), as a species that needs or would significantly benefit from international co-operation. The Convention encourages the Range States to conclude global or regional Agreements for species listed under Appendix II. That listing was approved on 9 November, at the 11th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the CMS in Quito, Ecuador.

European Eels are virtually indistinguishable from the other Anguillid species, particularly the American eel (Anguilla rostrata), making illegal trade very difficult to stop. Europol estimates that up to 100 tonnes of glass eels are smuggled each year, and in peak years, they can generate 3 billion euros of illegal trade. Eel trafficking is managed by highly organised criminal networks in Europe and Asia, with some even employing biologists, veterinarians, and chemists to ensure the eels survive long enough to reach their destination.

The Sargasso Sea Commission and the Convention on Migratory Species have been working to promote the conservation of the European eel since 2016, when the First Range States meeting was convened in Galway, Ireland. Since then, three additional range states meetings have been convened to collaborate on the conservation and sustainable harvest of European eels. In 2020, Range States discussed the proposal for a Single Species Action Plan for the European eel at the 13th Conference of the Parties to the CMS COP in Gandhinagar, India.

The next time the range states met was at the October 2025 meeting in Malmö, Sweden. They finalised a draft Single Species Action Plan that sets objectives and actions for European eel conservation and recovery, and includes a specific provision to engage with the new UN Agreement on Biodiversity in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) in relation to the Sargasso Sea to coordinate conservation of the European eel. This plan will be introduced at CMS COP 15 in Campo Grande, Brazil, where it is hoped to be formally adopted by the Parties to meet the need for urgent action on the conservation of these iconic fish.

The Global Environment Facility-funded Common Oceans Program Sargasso Sea project (GEF-UNDP-IOC-SSC) is committed to facilitating a collaborative, cross-sectoral, and sustainable stewardship mechanism to establish a comprehensive conservation framework to protect the unique ecosystem of the Sargasso Sea. Led by UNDP, implemented by IOC UNESCO, and supported by an extensive network of partners, it brings together the regional fisheries management organisations, other UN-mandated bodies, national agencies, intergovernmental organisations and initiatives, the private sector, civil society and academia.

In addition to the GEF-UNDP-IOC-SSC project, the Sargasso Sea Commission is supported by a sister project. Funded by the French Facility for Global Environment, and in partnership with the University of Western Brittany, Mar Viva, and the Sargasso Sea Commission, the ‘SARGADOM’ project focuses on two remarkable high seas sites – the Sargasso Sea in the North Atlantic (‘SARGA’) and the Thermal Dome in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (‘DOM’). The project aims to contribute to the protection of biodiversity and ecosystem services and to facilitate the development of hybrid ocean governance approaches for the two sites.

For more information, please contact Fae Sapsford – fsapsford@sargassoseacommission.org