Europe
Playing hard to get: cost of aphrodisiac eels soars
By John Lichfield in Paris
Apr 13, 2005, 15:34

Baby eels, once a cheap, aphrodisiac delicacy on the French Atlantic coast, have become so rare this winter and spring that they are more expensive than caviar.

Ecologists have appealed to the French government and the European Commission to ban fishing of the eels, known as pibale or glass eels, before they slither into oblivion. Others blame the building of dams, and the pollution of rivers and estuaries with residues of chemicals and pesticides used by farmers.

The tiny, transparent eels are spawned by adults which travel to Europe from the Sargasso Sea, off Florida, to the rivers and estuaries of western France. Once fished in their millions between November and April, they have become increasingly scarce.

At up to €900 (£614) a kilo - compared to the equivalent of €3.50 a kilo 40 years ago - restaurants in France have had to take them off the menu. Even at that price, they still find Asian buyers, principally the Chinese, who rear them until they are fully grown then sell them to Japan.

Eels, especially small eels, are prized for their taste and their aphrodisiac qualities in Europe and Asia.

Some restaurateurs and fishermen blame the Asian trade for snapping up all available eels, encouraging overfishing and pushing up prices. They have called for an EU-wide ban on eel fishing to give stocks time to replenish."They've become like white gold," said Jean-Pierre Xiradakis, of the La Tupina restaurant in Bordeaux. "There is no justification for selling them at this kind of price."

Others, such as Professor Eric Feunteun, an eel expert at the University of La Rochelle, say the real problem is reduction of eel habitats in Europe by pollution, draining of wetlands and river-powered electricity generators.

"The fishermen are the scapegoats but they are not the real cause of the decline," he said.


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