ABSTRACT
Eels are generally classified as a warmwater fish, and 19 species, including subspecies of the Anguilla genus, are distributed throughout the world. The following four species, Anguilla japonica in the Far East, Anguilla anguilla in Europe, Anguilla rostrata in North America, and Anguilla australis in Australia and New Zealand are commercially important. Extensive eel culture of the European eel A. anguilla has been conducted for many years in lagoons of the Mediterranean coast, however, intensive eel culture has been developed mostly in the Far East, especially in Japan using the Japanese eel A. japonica. Japanese eel has been cultured in Japan since 1880 and the annual production was 36,994 tons in 1987. 1 Eel culture in Taiwan was started about 20 years ago and the total production is estimated to be about 35,000 tons yearly. Most of eels produced in Taiwan are exported to Japan. Commercial intensive eel culture operations are not well established in Europe, North America, and Australasia with most of the production coming from catches in natural waters. Total production of eels in the world was 92,061 tons in 1987. 1 Production of cultured eel has increased, whereas the commercial catch of eels in natural waters in the world has decreased yearly. Since the demand for eel is still increasing in the world, production of eels by culture will be more important in the future.
