TOKYO -- Chinese fishery companies look to restrict international trade in baby eels, focusing on domestic farming in a move that could worsen shortages in unagi-loving Japan.
The plan is to set up new oversight bodies this winter in Guangdong Prefecture, a major eel aquaculture region. These will work with customs officials to keep tabs on distribution routes. Licenses will be required for exports, with unauthorized trade subject to penalties, though the requirements for such licenses have yet to be disclosed.
