Tag Archives: aquaculture

Susanne Kuehne, Decernis
Food Fraud Quick Bites

You Can See Right Through This Fraud

By Susanne Kuehne
No Comments
Susanne Kuehne, Decernis
Food fraud, glass eel
Find records of fraud such as those discussed in this column and more in the Food Fraud Database, owned and operated by Decernis, a Food Safety Tech advertiser. Image credit: Susanne Kuehne

European law enforcement worked across several European countries to discover a vast glass eel smuggling operation worth $1.5 million. Glass eels are wild baby eels, which are becoming increasingly rare. Glass eels are highly priced in Asian markets, for example for aquaculture farms. Smuggling these protected species is a lucrative business in Europe, since it is illegal to export eels. This is just the tip of the iceberg: The glass eel trafficking business is estimated to have grown to more than $3 billion in size over the past few years.

Resource

  1. Taylor, P. (June 7, 2021). “Major glass eel trafficking ring taken down by EU op”. Securing Industry.