As a major world conservation authority declares wild Japanese eel at risk of extinction, fishermen and restaurant operators fear the fish may disappear from the trade.
Eel farmers in Aichi and Shizuoka prefectures, Japan's major eel regions, see the red-list declaration by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as a direct threat to their livelihoods.
"Times may get tougher for consumers — and for producers as well," said Kenji Udono, 66, head of Shizuoka Prefecture's eel farmers' association.